Sight
by Number XVI
Summary: Cloud, blinded by a bully as a child and shunned by everyone for being different, is determined to prove to the five men he secretly loves that he is capable of doing anything they can! Will they be able to get him to /see/ them and their true feelings, or will he remain blinded? Let's just hope the others have better luck... AGSZCL/Which is what I like to call a 'Manpile'. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! It's me again!_

Genesis: Yes yes, what do you want now?

_Why, to keep you guys company is all! _

Zack: Uhuh...

_Do you doubt my sincerity! *le Gasp* How dare you question my motives!_

Cloud: We can't question what's already questionable.

_Touché... Anyway! This is my new (hopefully short) story! In it Cloud and the others are ANGELS! _

**_*audience gasps*_**

Genesis: How original...

Sephiroth: Very...

_I know, huh? Now, I know most of you are think, _"But, Tora, Angels is so overused!" _and honestly, you'd be right! BUT... there are going to be a few things different!_

_ First: Cloud is going to have his demonic KH wings! You'll see why soon__..._

_Second: Seph, Gen, and Ang will have **TWO** wings, of varying colors... I'm soo tired of them having only one wing! So, Seph is going to keep his black wings, and Angeal will keep the white, but Genesis... Well, Genesis is going to be graced with a beautiful pair of 'Golden Eagle' wings! Exciting isn't it? While Zack is going to have the wings of a 'Spotted White Falcon'._

_Third: Cloud is **Blind**! And he will remain so throughout the duration of this fic! He was blinded as a child by a bully, so he remembers things like colors and what grass and trees look like, but not much else._

_Fourth: There are a few guest appearances from some familiar KH faces, but no KH worlds will be added, so this really isn't a crossover... just some cameos! You'll see who by the third chapter, I'm sure!_

Zack: Gah! How could you do such a horrible thing to my thunderstorm? *cuddles Cloud*

Cloud: Z-Zack! You're chok...ing m... *trails off*

Angeal: Let him go puppy, he can't breathe.

Zack:*looks down at Cloud*

Cloud: *passed out*

Zack: Oh crap...

_Anyway... let's get on with it, shall we?_

**Disclaimer: DO NOT OWN!**

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><p>(Flashback: 12 years ago)<p>

_A small blonde boy sobbed quietly, curled in a tight ball in a shadowed corner of an alleyway between two buildings._

_He was hiding… the older boys were trying to get him again. He didn't understand why, but every time they saw him, they made horrible faces and tried to hurt him!_

_They always said it was because of his wings. They said he was different from all the other angels, so he didn't deserve to be happy like the rest of them._

_Whenever they managed to catch him, they would hold his wings and threaten to pull them out if he ever told anyone; then he would be banished from living with the angels._

_The boy cried harder. He didn't understand why he was different; why his wings were different. Both his mother and father had normal wings!_

_Suddenly, he heard the sounds of the others getting closer, and the boy whimpered, alerting them to his location accidentally._

"_Hey, he's over here!"_

"_Where? I wanna teach that little reject a lesson!"_

"_What he do this time, Micha?"_

"Everything!_ He looked at me funny today during training! So Imma—"_

"_Hey, don't do anything stupid, Micha…"_

"_Hehe, of course not… I'm just going to make sure he never looks at me again,"_

_The boy cried out as he was roughly pulled up by the hair until his face was just inches from another's. The other boy, Micha, sneered and threw him back to the ground, "Hold him down Aril, I don't want him thrashing and getting this stuff on me,"_

_Aril, shook his head vehemently, "No, Micha! This is what I was talking about! We can't do this!"_

_Micha growled, "Are you gonna back out _now_!"_

"_I'm not doing this Micha! I'm going to leave if you continue to do this," Aril threatened._

_The boy beneath Micha sobbed harder, unknowing of his fate._

"_Whatever coward; leave for all I care! I'm going to finish this and you're not going to stop me!"_

_The small child soon found himself pinned more forcefully to the ground and he panicked as Micha pulled a small vial from a pouch. He writhed wildly, causing Micha to curse. But the older, stronger boy succeeded in stilling him, and the blonde child could only watch in growing horror as Micha popped the cork on the glass and held the container over his face; more specifically, his eyes._

_The boy doubled his efforts, but to no avail._

_Micha managed to get a few drops of the unknown substance into each of the child's eyes before he was violently ripped from the boy._

_The small child howled in pain and clawed helplessly at his eyes._

'It burns,'_ the boy thought_. 'So much… Make it stop!'

_The boy heard deeper, rougher voices over the sound of his screaming and he looked—as well as he could— over to the source. All he saw was a large blur hovering above him._

'Make it stop! Please!'

_And suddenly, the world turned black._

(Present Day)

Cloud Strife sat bolt upright in his bed, panting and sweating. He gripped his shirt in his hand tightly.

He'd had the dream again… the one where he'd had his sight stolen from him…

The day during which his life had been changed forever…

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><p><em>Review if you like!<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**If you hadn't been able to guess from all my other chaps and stories, I almost always update at night/early morning!**

Eli: And why is that, Tora? *lecherous grin*

***stare* That look does not belong on your face... Ignore my OC... She likes to taunt me.**

Genesis: Of course she does! You're too easy! *pause*

Zack: *snicker*

**That sounded wrong, Gen. I don't know if I should be complimented that you apparently think of me in that way, or if I should be offended!**

Genesis: *blush* Shut the hell up...

Cloud: *pats Genesis' back* It's okay *solemn head shake*

**_Disclaimer:_ DON'T FUCKING OWN!1! Now read...**

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><p>Cloud managed to calm his breathing slightly. By that time he could tell it was nearly morning; the birds outside were beginning to recite their ever-changing songs and he could clearly hear his mother rustling around in her room as if it was next to his instead of down the hall.<p>

When Cloud's vision had been forcibly taken from him at the tender age of seven, his other senses had been called upon more heavily to help guide him through life; as well as some more _unexpected_ things.

Cloud was—for lack of a better term—an Angel, and more specifically, he was one of the few with _special_ abilities…

Now, he wasn't an _Angel_ as in God's little minions… no, he was an Angel: a culture that closely resembled Human Beings; except with wings… Yeah, that contributed to their differences a little. As well as some _other_ things…

It turned out that after Cloud had lost his sight, it made way for a few new gifts to surface, all of which being psychic; clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, shape-shifting (into a golden wolf), and the ability to 'see' auras. That helped him not bump into people in public considering auras tended to encompass a person roughly three feet; it's also what's mostly kept people from figuring out he was blind.

In addition to those he had the capability to make maps in his mind by just touching something. He could touch the sidewalk and be able to pinpoint every building, tree, shrub, or large body of water within a three mile radius. Usually he'd make it more discreet than bending down to put his hand on the probably nasty sidewalk, like making it seem he was taking a break by leaning against a convenient building, but he'd lived in this city his whole life, so he was pretty sure he was adept in traveling its streets without needing to touch anything.

Soon though— soon he and his brothers were being sent to The Academy; a school that only taught the most special of individuals. People all over the angelic planet known as Gaia _prayed_ for their children to be enrolled there, but most never got the chance. According to statistics, only one in every three-hundred people was ever graced with abilities such as Cloud's, and Cloud was an even rarer breed with more than one.

Cloud found this out the hard way when The Academy sent out its annual 'Spotters'—people that found others with gifts and brought them back to the establishment—to his hometown.

Cloud had already finished his schooling early, at sixteen, and had been home at the time preparing to go and pick his younger siblings up from school, when said little brothers had come right through the front door with an older gentleman by the name of Reeve. Turns out Reeve was a 'Spotter', and Sora had once again opened his big, fat mouth and blabbed to the man that his older brother had specialties as well… thanks, Sora, love you too…

Cloud had then been forced to tell the man what latent abilities he possessed.

Reeve had been astonished that Cloud had so many, up until Cloud had asked if he could 'see' him. Reeve had been confused, wondering why when he was sitting right across from him, and Roxas had helpfully replied that Cloud was, in fact, completely blind… with his eyes.

Turned out his 'inner-mind-mapping' thing (which will henceforth be called _Sight_) could be used to a smaller degree on people and paper.

Cloud had softly laid his hand on Reeve's arm when he'd been given the go-ahead and had quickly learned that Reeve was an attractive middle-aged man—maybe in his thirties—and had black hair, a small goat-tee, and fatherly brown eyes. In other words, Cloud had taken an instant liking to him. His aura was a rather pretty violet color, with hints of lavender swirling around his head. This man was a dreamer, and Cloud could respect that.

Cloud's mother had eventually come home and Reeve had spoken with her about allowing her children to come to TA with him. After some careful thought and questioning to her sons, the woman had given permission, which Sora and Roxas had promptly decided to celebrate.

Reeve left soon, parting with words on how the school would pay for supplies for the boys. He promised to be back by the end of the month and was gone.

Cloud hadn't heard from him since. The month was up in approximately two days, so he figured they'd meet again then.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the abrupt end here... the next chap is coming up soon! So is the next one for Vacation, if any of you happen to read that one!<strong>

**REVIEW! Or the Bishies get it! *points yaoi paddle at Cloud and the others***


	3. Chapter 3

**See, I _told_ you I'd get this one out soon!**

**This is the _THIRD_ chapter and I'm kinda proud! **

**I know my chaps are kinda short, and I'm sorry about that, but I try to aim the length to be between 500 and 1000 words, so they usually end up in the 700 range (not including the AN). And another thing! Some of the 'Psychic Ability' names are unfamiliar to some people, so from now on I'm going to put the definitions of them down at the bottom! Along with Cloud's from the last chapter, there will probably be about nine-eleven, I'm not sure! I'll add any new ones to the list in the chapters they show up in, but for now, this'll be it!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** Don't own, don't sue...**

_**Warnings**_**: Cloud has a mouth, excuse his french.**

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><p>His younger brothers were practically vibrating with excitement, and their mother was happy for them. The blonde knew she was extremely surprised for <em>all<em> of her children to be special, but she didn't let it slow her down. She just continued to be proud.

Right now though, the teen could hear his brothers sleeping in their rooms across the hall.

Vanitas, Ventus, Roxas, and Sora: two sets of twin born in that order. They all looked alike, but Roxas looked exactly like Ventus and Sora was like a hyper, brighter version of Vanitas even though both boys are separated by their brothers by a year.

Vanitas had spiky black hair and golden eyes and his wings almost matched. They were black with golden mottles. Vanitas was arrogant to a fault, but he was also extremely loyal.

Ventus and Roxas were almost completely identical, what with their cow-licked blonde sweep of bangs and bright, sky-blue eyes. The only difference between them was their attitudes. Ventus' personality was that of a more subdued version of Sora, while Roxas' emotions were either severely lacking or sarcastic and dry as a desert. He was also not a fun person to be around in the mornings…

Sora… Honestly, if it weren't for that lovable brunette lug, Cloud wouldn't be able to stand the other three (maybe Ventus… maybe) for more than a few hours. Sora was like the sticky, duct tape like crap that held all the brothers together and as far a Cloud knew he was never letting go. If Cloud was ever arguing with Vanitas or Roxas (fucking punk that he is) one watery-eyed look from those oceanic orbs and they stopped.

All of his brothers were aportationists, meaning they could summon certain inanimate objects at will. In their cases, they had the ability to summon one of the most respected of angelic weapons: Keyblades; and considering that all four of them could do it—without any known Keyblade bearers in their family tree—was supposedly unheard of.

But besides their shared aportation, the four of them also had traits of their own: Vanitas had Retrocognition **(1)**, Ventus was an Empath **(2)**, Roxas was able to manipulate Shadows, and Sora had Photokenesis **(3)**.

Cloud sighed quietly, getting up from his temptingly warm bed. He was gonna miss this thing when he left…

He stretched, arching his back and pushing his arms up. Behind him his wings shivered almost happily.

The blonde stood straight and scratched the base of his left wing absently. The leathery appendage twitched and settled against his back with its twin.

Cloud had long ago gotten comfortable with his oh-so-different wings. Actually, he was kind of proud of the bat-like appendages. Now he just wished everyone else would catch up. He was tired of having to kick people's asses for starting shit…

After the _Incident_, as his family liked to call it, Cloud's mother had enrolled all of her boys in martial arts classes and sword fighting lessons (when they were old enough) so that they could defend themselves. She'd had some trouble with finding a teacher that would take a blind child, but eventually she'd found one by the name of Master Zangan. There he'd met his childhood friend, Tifa.

He loved the girl like a sister. He remembered when he first met her; she taken one look at him and burst out crying. He'd panicked of course, wondering why this girl had suddenly started crying when he'd stepped into the room. He'd rushed to her and asked her and she just grabbed him and pulled him into a bone-breaking hug. Then Tifa had proceeded to start plotting the best way to get Micha back for what he'd done.

Cloud had been dumbfounded. This girl knew he was blind and he hadn't even told her! He eventually found out that Tifa could Clairsentience **(4)** and she just _knew_. They'd been inseparable ever since.

Finally jerking himself for his memories, Cloud got dressed and vacated his room. As he passed his brothers' rooms he banged on their doors viscously, taking silent pleasure in the loud thumps and muffled curses that accompanied.

"Get the fuck up! We gotta go get some things and I'm not waiting for stragglers! If you aren't downstairs completely dressed in ten minutes, I'm leaving your asses at _home_!" he called.

From his room Vanitas cursed his older brother out with explicit detail.

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><p><strong>1. Retrocognition: <strong>The ability to see the past through an object/person that had something to do with that particular event; i.e. if someone was stabbed, you could see the event by touching the knife.

**2. Empathy: **the ability to feel another's emotions.

**3. Photokenesis: **the ability to control light; bending, refracting, reflecting light to meet the person's needs.

**4. Clairsentience: **the ability to know without being told or shown. **Example:** Like just meeting a person and knowing right off the bat that there's something not right with them, except you know _exactly_ what's wrong.

_**Cloud's Gifts:**_

**1. Clairvoyance: **Seeing what can't be seen normally; seeing from far away. **Example:** You're on the other side of the city from your friend, yet you can see them being robbed from where you are.

**2. Clairaudience: **Hearing what can't be heard normally; hearing from far away. **Example:** hearing someone's cry for help from across the country; I like to call it the 'Superhero Ability' because they can always hear when someone needs help even though they aren't anywhere near the person.

**3. He can also** **Clairsentience which I've already given the definition of up there ^**

**4. Shape-shifting: **If you didn't know the meaning of this, I'd be worried...

**5. Aura-Seeing: **Again, the word explains it...

**6. _Sight_:** Also known as Mind-Mapping; the ability to see with your mind through touch. Usually the colors are muted, in sepia tone, or completely black and white. In Cloud's case, the colors are muted meaning he can see them, but not well.

**_Others mentioned in chapter:_**

**1. Aportation: **the ability to summon a certain inanimate object. Vanitas, Ventus, Roxas, and Sora do it with the Keyblades, while Couch-Potatoes do it with the remote *shrugs*.

**2. Shadow Manipulation:** Basically Roxas' ability to create portals out of darkness; he can also make himself almost invisible a night, and he can pass from shadow to shadow if he's in a hurry.** Example:** He's late so he uses a shadow in the alleyway near the school, and ends up stepping out of a shadow in the corner of the hall across from his class. It's the same basic principle as his portals, but for a shorter distance, and he can only use _natural_ shadows, unlike his portals which he creates.

**That's all for now, but I think a few more may pop up in later chaps!**

**Review if you've got time, I'm too tired to threaten the bishies right now *yawn*...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wo0t! I made it _longer!_ Haha!**

Genesis: Yes yes, longer, whoop-dee-doo...

**Aww, Gen-gen, is it _that_ time of the month again?**

Genesis: Fuck. You.

Zack: *snicker*

**Disclaimer: Don't own... who gives a flyin' shit...?**

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><p>Two days passed quickly, including the almost disastrous shopping trip where Sora tried to get Cloud to buy a year's worth of gummy bears.<p>

It's safe to say that the older teen was _not_ amused. He could tell that Sora had pouted, but the effect was lost on Cloud. Being blind did have its advantages.

Sora _had_ managed to coerce Vanitas into buying some for him though. Not as much as he'd wanted, but a lot. Like, five pounds worth… Cloud had snorted and muttered a choice word under his breath that had Ven and Roxas snickering and Van giving him a scathing glare that he could still feel.

But soon, Cloud found himself hugging his mother tightly while she cried into his shoulder.

"You be-better call me w-when you get there!" she pulled back from her oldest and settled a watery, but stern look on her other four children, standing sheepishly behind their older brother. "All of you," she intoned.

The four boys nodded in unison, "Yes, Mom!" and then they were piling into the car that had come to deliver them to The Academy.

"Don't worry Mrs Strife; I'll make sure they get there safely," Reeve said solemnly.

Mrs Strife sniffled against her son's broad shoulder once more before backing away. Cloud heard the soft rustle of his mother's hair as she nodded, and then the crackling of gravel as she walked back into their home.

Reeve lay a hand on Cloud's shoulder softly, "I'll give you a moment," and walked away to the car.

Cloud closed his sightless eyes and breathed in the scent of his childhood home. Finally, he bent down and touched the sidewalk lightly for one last _sight_ before he stood up and climbed into the vehicle behind him.  
>-x-<p>

The time to necessary to reach the Academy was spent by Reeve explaining all of the school rules, their curriculums (apparently they were separated into classes by their powers, but their homeroom was mixed), and their sleeping arrangements.

Vanitas and Ventus were rooming together, as was Sora and Roxas, but poor Cloud was stuck living with a perfect stranger by the name of Genesis Rhapsodos.

According to Reeve, the older man had a bit of a temper and was prone to mood changes frequently.

Good thing Cloud was blind. He could blame his lack of interest on that!

When they arrived in front of the, admittedly, impressive school, all of them were immediately whisked to homeroom which, if Reeve was to be trusted, had just started.

The man walked them to a nondescript classroom, opened the door, and waved the boys in.

Sora was first to go in, and if the boy's light yellow aura was anything to go by, he was all smiles and bubbly laughter the whole way through.

Ventus followed quickly, hoping to keep the younger brunette under some semblance of control. Vanitas sauntered in with a cocky, confident orange-red aura flowing jauntily around him.

Roxas was a spoilsport as he walked in with his hands in his pockets, earbuds blaring some punk band, and slouched forward like an old man.

Cloud almost smacked him upside the head. Almost…

The oldest blonde followed at a much more subdued pace, discreetly running his hand along the door to get a _sight_ of the room before walking in completely. He didn't move his head to 'look' at anything, but instead stared straight ahead at the far wall.

"Hello children, as you may know, I'm the Assistant Director of this academy! My name is Reeve Tuesti, but I'm not here to introduce myself! I'm here to introduce your newest classmates, the Strife brothers: Sora, Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas, and Cloud! Now, I want you to take good care of them, and make them feel welcomed here," he patted Cloud's shoulder softly. "I'm off boys. If you need anything, ask your teachers to contact me," and then he was gone.

Silence reigned, but Sora was not perturbed, "Hey! I'm Sora; it's nice to meet you! Don't pay attention to the emo behind me; he's got issues that he's probably wishing he could sort out with that corner over there!" Cloud could _feel_ his little brother smile. The whole class laughed and Roxas made a noncommittal grunting noise that just made them laugh harder.

"I'll let the class ask you questions while I go take care of something and when I get back we'll continue," the teacher stated from beside Cloud, who flinched. He hadn't even noticed her! He listened as her heals clacked away.

"I call the first one!" someone shouted from the back. "It's for the taller one, Cloud right?"

Cloud nodded, assuming he was talking to him, "Okay, well, why are you staring at me? It's kinda creeping me out, dude…"

Cloud's eyebrows furrowed, "I'm not staring at you. Ventus, what am I facing?"

"The back wall, Cloud; it does kind of look like you're watching him,"

Cloud averted his sightless eyes to the ground, "I apologize. I didn't mean to,"

Sora spoke up, "Don't blame him! He can't help it, he's blind!"

Cloud growled, "Sora…"

"Oh come off it, bro! You can't always help these things!" Vanitas butts in.

The person in the back who questioned Cloud gasps slightly, "Oh, wow, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be such a douchebag!"

Cloud shook his head, "No, you didn't know."

"Yeah, well, my name's Axel! Got it memorized?"

This time, Cloud intentionally pointed his gaze towards its previous point; a place he now noticed was occupied by a scarlet orb, with an eyebrow raised.

"Damn! How do you do that?" Cloud watched as the orb moved side to side and he followed it. "Shiva that's creepy!" the boy, Axel, exclaimed. "I thought you were blind!"

Ventus chuckled, "He is, but he can sense auras. He's probably locked onto yours right now,"

"That's really cool… What else can you do? What about you four?"

"All four of them can aportate. Besides that Sora is photokenetic, Roxas can manipulate shadows, Ventus is an Empath, and Vanitas can retrocognate." Cloud explained. "As for me, I can't aportate, but I'm clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient. I can also shape-shift, see auras, and mind-map, which I've heard be referred to as _Sight_ which, ironically, I don't physically have,"

"Damn," a new voice spoke. "That's a lot… I don't think even _Sephiroth_ or the _Director_ have that many!"

Cloud swiveled his head to face a different aura, this one blue with a hint of turquoise, "Jeez, Axel, you're right. That is kinda freaky! I'm Riku, by the way," the boy introduced himself.

"Who's Sephiroth?" Sora questions inquisitively.

Riku chuckles, probably 'cause Sora's got his head tilted in that oddly puppy-ish way, "You remind me of Zack… Sephiroth is my older brother, well, one of them anyway, and before you ask, Zack is his lo—friend!"

Roxas finally speaks, "We're gay, you know…? We really don't care if your brother is or not, so no need to cover it up. By the way you were about to say it, I'm sure most, if not all, of the school knows already," he pauses for a second and an awkward silence takes over. "Don't give me that look! We're gay, but not for _each other_!" Cloud chokes on his spit, which he inhaled while gasping in indignation and Vanitas thumps his back.

"Gosh Rox, the first thing that come out of your mouth all day just had to sound dirty, didn't it?" Ventus teased.

Roxas growled, "Shut the hell up, bastard!"

"Back on topic please?" Riku calls. "Anyway, what can you aportate?"

"Keyblades!" Sora chirps.

The whole room gasps, "All of you?" Cloud assumes one of his brothers nodded. "Are you serious, that's crazy!"

"Yeah, me 'n Rox are ambidextrous so we can summon two a piece while Ventus is right handed and Van is left!"

"Terra, you hear that? We got four new Keybladers!" Riku chimes to someone.

'Terra' is sitting to the left of Axel in the back, "That's cool," is all he says. The boy has a blue aura too, though darker, more indigo than Riku's.

"So you two are Keyblade Bearers, too?" Ventus asks.

"Yep," was Terra's contribution.

"Okay, I've got a question! You're two sets of twins, so which twin is yours?"

"Van and Ven are older than me and Rox by a year!" Sora says. "Van is oldest and I'm youngest!"

"So wait, you're tellin' me, that you're paired up so that the identicals are in separate sets?"

"Um, I guess…?"

"What I mean is Ventus and Roxas look _exactly_ the same and you and Vanitas look the same except for your hair and eye color,"

"Oh, well then yeah! I don't know why that is either, but it is!"

"Alright boys, go take a seat! There isn't much time left, so I'll let you talk, but _quietly_!" the teacher finally arrived.

Roxas made his way to the seat on the right of Axel, and Van followed and sat to the right of his brother. Sora sank into the seat behind Riku and Ven took up the desk on the left of Terra.

Cloud walked to the closest wall and touched the surface lightly. The only open chair was on the left of Ven, so he was quick to claim it. He could tell the class wanted to know why he'd done that, but he laid his head down on the desk before anyone could ask and let his brothers explain.

Today was going to be a long day, he already knew…

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><p><strong>Okay, question for you: should I, or should I not put the Aura Colors and their Meanings thing up as a reference chapter so that you can go and see what colors mean what?<strong>

**I need to know, so send me a review and tell me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**And Chaptah FIIIVE! Can I get a 'Whoop Whoop'?**

Genesis: no...

***glare* You just wait... you'll get your's for denying ME! *lightning flashes***

Genesis: Uhuh... sure.

***dark chuckle***

_**Disclaimer: **_**Don't own... How many time's do I gotta say it?**

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><p>Homeroom ended shortly thereafter.<p>

Considering Cloud finished his 'Primary Schooling' early, he had no classes before Homeroom, as those were meant for the students still in actual school. Tomorrow he would have to attend his 'After-Homeroom' classes, which were divided by type of ability, but mixed concerning age.

Today, though, after homeroom he was escorted to his dorm (which he was still sharing with this mysterious Genesis person) and told to wait for his roommate to show up.

And so, Cloud popped his earbuds in, lay down on his stomach in the unoccupied bed, and waited…

And waited…

And waited…

Until finally he stopped paying attention and drifted off into his thoughts and memories.

Cloud was using his time here at the academy as a new start, but the first thing he had to do to even begin trying that, was to review his very unpleasant childhood memories and come to better terms with them.

Unconsciously, the blonde rubbed his lower back softly. His tormentors left more than emotional scars in their wake…

He was so preoccupied with his soul-searching that he didn't notice when two new auras burst into the room, but they definitely noticed him.

Genesis abruptly stopped laughing at whatever Zack had done earlier that day in the presence of the beautiful teen lying in the bed across from his. Beside him, Leon's eyebrow rose in contemplation as he looked the blonde over.

"Hey, who're you?" the brunette asked monotonously. The teen didn't reply.

Leon's eyebrows furrowed in a small outward expression of emotion, "I asked you a question, kid: what's your name?" again, no answer.

Genesis stepped over to the boy and place a hand on his back, trying to get his attention, "What's your na—!"

Suddenly the boy was out of the bed and in the corner shaking slightly, his too-blue eyes wide and frightened, "_Don't touch me!_" he cried hoarsely.

Genesis clutched his nose, "Son of a fucking _bitch_! What in the name of the Goddess was that for?" the red-head prodded his nose softly. Leon leapt into belated action as he strode to his older lover and assured that his rapidly bruising nose wasn't broken. When the brunette was finished he whirled to the other boy in the room.

When the unknown hand had been place upon his back, right over his curse-mark, Cloud had been elbow-deep in horrible memories. But after he'd come back to his senses, he found himself tucked in a corner of the small room with his music still blasting.

Leon called out to the boy once more, trying to get his attention. The blonde was yelling at them to 'show themselves' and yet his eyes were wide open and he was facing them directly. Genesis looked about ready to reap some vengeance, but Leon held out his arm across the red-head's chest and waved in the blonde's face, "Gen, I don't think he can see us,"

Suddenly the teen ripped out a pair of earbuds that had otherwise gone unnoticed, "Who's there?" he asked timidly.

Leon stepped forward slowly, lowering his arm, "My name is Leon, and behind me is Genesis. Who're you?"

"My name's Cloud Strife… Which one of you touched me?"

"I did!" Genesis cut in. "But you didn't have to punch me!"

Cloud looked alarmed, "I did what?" suddenly he was standing in front of the slightly taller boy, his hands roving softly over his bruised face, careful not to press. "Oh, I'm so sorry,"

Genesis blushed at the tender touches the boy was giving him, "I-it's no problem! I'm okay, see?" Leon smirked at his lover's face and Gen scowled.

Cloud chuckled, "No, actually, I don't, but that's okay, too. My _sight_ helped me see the extent of the damage I caused,"

"But, you just said you couldn't see…?"

"Not physically, but one of my powers is _Sight_, which allows me to see with my mind. I'm sorry to say that that bruise is probably going to turn an ugly shade of purple, and then an even uglier shade of green…" Cloud explained.

Genesis groaned predictably.

"Sorry, again… I wasn't exactly in my right mind when you touched me," Cloud said sheepishly.

Leon's infamous eyebrow rose again, "Oh, and which one were you in?"

"A horrible one…" and that was the end of that.

"Um, okay then… we just stopped by to get some things. We're gonna be across the hall if you need anything. Dinner's in two hours, we'll probably stop by and get you, just in case though," Genesis said.

This caused Cloud to growl slightly, "I don't need your help,"

"Just in case, we'll do it anyway," Leon repeated as he walked out the door. Genesis followed and with a sharp click, Cloud was left alone once more.

The blonde sighed roughly; he didn't need anyone to baby him! Just because he was blind didn't mean he was helpless! His mother still did it and his brothers did also, from time to time. The only person who'd ever treated him like he could still see was Tifa.

Odin, he missed Tifa… Sure it'd only been a day, but right around now they would've been meeting up in the park or the dojo for a sparring session and then a quick snack… then they would've talked about their days… Has he always sounded this much like a girl?

Sighing again, he just stuck his earbuds back in and decided to take a nap until dinner.

* * *

><p><strong>How do you like me now, Bitch! *points at Genesis*<strong>

Genesis: Y-you got me punched! By Cloud!

Cloud: Hey! What's that supposed to mean?

Genesis: Nothing *pets Cloud while glaring at Tora*

**Oh, quit your bitching and whining! It was only for shits and giggles, no harm no foul, am I right? The bruise didn't even carry over!**

Genesis: Fuck. You.

**Ignore Drama McQueen over there. R&R people! Reviews are like a writer's crack! And man, I'm already addicted!**


	6. Chapter 6

**School. That is all...**

Genesis: I ought to hit you. Hard.

**Please don't... I've got enough brain damage as is.**

Genesis: I'll testify to that!

_**Disclaimed!**_

* * *

><p>He didn't sleep all the way until dinner, but he got very close.<p>

He was woken up by load banging on his dorm room door and a very familiar voice screeching his name. The door was open before he could process what was happening.

"Tifa?"

The black-haired girl grinned at her friend, knowing she'd just woke him up, "Why the hell didn't you say good-bye you blonde bastard?"

Cloud cocked his head in confusion, "But I did say good—wait, wait why are you even _here_?"

Tifa rolled her eyes, "Well, if you'd stopped by, I might've told you that I was accepted here too, dork!"

"You were—Are you serious?" the reality of the situation seemed to have finally caught up with her friend. "Tifa, that's awesome!"

"I know! C'mon, let's go find your brothers and head to dinner! I don't know about you, but I'm _starved_!" Tifa snatched Cloud's wrist and hauled him from the room, closing the door before leading him down the hallway and chattering a mile-a-minute.  
>=3=<p>

Genesis scowled as he swept into Sephiroth and Angeal's small dorm. Behind him, Leon sighed as he shut the opening solidly.

"Genesis, what happened to your face?" Zack exclaimed, pointing—rather rudely, in Genesis' opinion— at the redhead's bruised nose dramatically.

Angeal and Sephiroth's heads snapped up at the outburst. In less than heartbeat, they were across the room and in Genesis' face, checking over the wound worriedly.

The taller brunette's fingers brushed over the discoloration gently, "What happened?"

Leon, arms crossed and leaning against the opposite wall, snorted, "He startled a sleeping, blind kid; it was fucking hilarious,"

Genesis nodded at the questioning looks he received, "Kid packs a punch,"

Zack waved his hands in a frantic 'stop' gesture, face pinched in thought, "Wait wait, back this truck up! Did you say '_blind kid_'? How the _hell_ did he manage to even touch you?"

Genesis' scowl deepened, "Zack… shut up," and with that, he sprawled himself on Sephiroth's bed.

Leon smacked the darker brunette upside the head, much to his protest.

Sephiroth and Angeal sat down at either end of the redhead, content to just be around their lovers and their antics.

Sephiroth was confused though. This blind child Leon had spoken of… He _shouldn't_ have been able to lay a hand on Genesis. The auburn-haired man was one of the best at hand-to-hand; he should have seen the move coming from a mile away. Scowling, the silverette decided he was going to have to see this boy for himself.  
>=3=<p>

Cloud entered his new room a little after dinner was over. He'd sensed Genesis in the dining hall earlier, but he'd had people Cloud didn't know with him, so Cloud had suggested that he, Tifa, Cloud's brothers (who they met as Tifa dragged him around), and a new friend of Tifa's named Aerith, eat outside in the courtyard.

They had a fairly nice time. Tifa and Aerith giggled about the hotties they saw in their classes, while Roxas went on and on about how much of an asshole Axel was turning out to be.

Cloud just suspected the younger blonde had a crush on the tall red-head.

Cloud sighed, slipping out of his clothes and rooting around in his still-unpacked bags for a pair of sleep pants.

He pulled them on slowly; the events of the day were catching up and Cloud was suddenly very tired.

The blonde crawled into his new bed, pulled the covers up, and quickly lost himself to a thankfully dreamless sleep.  
>=3=<p>

Genesis said goodbye to his lovers just before they called curfew. He got a kiss from each of them and an enthusiastic hug from Puppy before he was allowed to cross the hall into his room.

He hadn't forgotten about Cloud, not at all. In fact, all he could think about while he was with his lovers were those hauntingly blue eyes and that quiet smile. The redhead sighed softly, and opened his door, careful to not slam it like he normally would.

Despite his efforts, he was still greeted with a groan.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Genesis asked, shutting the door behind him and navigating his way through their dark room.

"No, it's fine. I'm a light sleeper, and your aura is very bright," the blonde explained, rolling over and opening his sightless eyes, appearing to observe Genesis. As much as the redhead thought it would have been creepy to have a blind person 'staring' at him, he didn't mind. He actually blushed, feeling as though his soul was being bared.

"Right about now you would be relaxing and reading _LOVELESS,_ wouldn't you? I'm sorry if I've disrupted a routine." Cloud stated.

The auburn haired man whipped around from changing his clothes to regard Cloud with an incredulous expression, "How do you know that? We've talked all of _once_, and I did _not_ mention anything about _LOVELESS_!"

The blonde looked abashed, "'m sorry… That was my clairsentience speaking,"

"You're clairsentient?"

A nod, "Mmhm; among a whole slew of other things,"

Genesis raised an eyebrow, "Such as…?"

Cloud smirked, "You'll find out tomorrow." The blonde said with certainty, before turning over and resuming his rest.

Auburn eyebrows furrowed as the redhead's curiosity was unappeased. Genesis snorted mutedly, but he conceded. Crawling into his own bed, the older man quickly fell into dreams of his own, one filled with blonde hair and a melodious voice.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not even going to ask you to review... I dont deserve it.<strong>

**Next chapter we'll be going into the classes Cloud will be attending! As well as who will be attending with him...**

**Be on the look out for OCs. If you've read any of my other stories (besides _Tangled_) you'll know immediately who they are. They also won't be the major characters (or, at least I don't _think_ they will be), but I didn't have enough people in a couple of the classes, so I had to use them as fillers.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. People, Powers, and Definitions

Adults-

Lazard(38): (abilities yet to be disclosed)

Reeve(43): telepathy; ability to locate other Angels with strong powers

Rufus(28): telepathy, telemanipulation

Reno(30): shapeshifting (fox)

Tseng(32): telepathy

Cid(42): aportation (Venus Gospel)

Xemnas(33): braekenesis

Saix(30): shape shifting (wolf)

Students (by age)-

Sora (15): aportation (Oathkeeper, Kingdom Key), photokenesis

Roxas (15): aportation (Oblivion, Two Becomes One), braekenesis

Namine (15): artistic manipulation

Kairi (15): aportation (Destiny's Embrace)

Ventus (16): aportation (Wayward Wind), empathy

Vanitas (16): aportation (X-Blade), retrocongnition

Riku (16): aportation (Way to the Dawn), braekenesis

Kadaj (17): aportation (Souba), seer

Axel (17): pyrokenesis, aportation (Chakrams)

Demyx (17): hydrokenesis

Terra (17): aportation (Earthshaker)

Aerith (17): clairvoyance, clairaudience, aura-seeing

Tifa (17): clairsentience

Zexion (18): telepathy, telekenesis

Cloud (18): shapeshifting (wolf), Clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, aura-seeing, mind-mapping

Leon (18): shape-shifting (lion)

Yazoo (19): shape-shifting (panther)

Zack (19): shape-shifting (wolf)

Sephiroth (20): aportation (Masamune), shape-shifting (panther)

Genesis (20): rhapsodomancy, shape-shifting (phoenix)

Angeal (20): shape-shifting (wolf)

Vincent (21): shape-shifting (tiger), telekenesis

OCs-

Zephyr (16): shape shifter (snow leopard), telekenesis

Rene (17): shape shifter (cougar), aerokenesis

Torra (18): shape shifter (tiger), hydrokenesis

Ignatius (19): shape shifter (lion), pyrokenesis

Felix (20): shape shifter (panther), terrakenesis

Sven (21): shape shifter (cheetah), electrokenesis

Abilities and Definitions-

Aerokenesis: to control air with your mind

Artistic manipulation: to bring art –of any kind- to life with a thought

Aportation: summoning of an inanimate object

Braekenesis: made up name for 'shadow manipulation' and is derived from the Latin word 'brae' meaning 'Darkness'. Pronounced "bray-kenesis" if I'm not mistaken (which I very well could be). Sorry if it sounds lame, but I didn't like how 'light manipulation' could be called photokenesis so I made something up for 'shadow maipulation'.

Clairvoyance: seeing things that can't normally be seen

Clairaudience: hearing what cannot be heard; hearing from far away

Clairsentience: knowing without being told

Empathy: the ability to know what someone else is feeling/to share feelings unwillingly

Electrokenesis: to control electricity with your mind

Hydrokenesis: to control water with your mind

Photokenesis: -not to be confused with Photosynthesis... Sora's not a plant. Maybe a little flowery at times, but not a plant- manipulation of light

Pyrokenesis: to control fire with your mind

Retrocognition: ability to see the past by touching an object that had something to do with it

Rhapsodomancy: prophetic rhapsody; opening a book of poetry at random and finding intuitive guidance within that particular poem (anyone else see why it fits Genesis Rhapsodos so well?)

Seer/Seeing: ability to see the future; strong Seers can see the future very detailed, while less powerful ones only get a vague and not very accurate vision, aka: smells, noises, sometimes people involved

Telekenesis: to move with your mind

Telemanipulation: to control a person with your mind

Telepathy: -not to be confused with telekenesis- to read another's thoughts

Teleportation: using one's mind to will the particles of their body or an object from one place to another

Terrakenesis: to control earth with your mind

Classes

Shape-Shifting/Reno: Fox, Saix: Wolf

Cloud: Wolf

Zack: Wolf

Leon: Lion

Yazoo: Panther

Vincent: Tiger

Sephiroth: Panther

Genesis: Phoenix

Angeal: Wolf

Zephyr: Snow Leopard

Torra: Tiger

Rene: Cougar

Ignatius: Lion

Felix: Panther

Sven: Cheetah

-kenesis Powers/Xemnas: Braekenesis

Sora: photokenesis

Roxas: braekenesis

Riku: braekenesis

Axel: pyrokenesis

Demyx: hydrokenesis

Zexion: telekenesis

Vincent: telekenesis

Zephyr: telekenesis

Rene: aerokenesis

Torra: hydrokenesis

Ignatius: pyrokenesis

Felix: terrakenesis

Sven: electrokenesis

Aportation/Cid: Venus Gospel

Sora: Oathkeeper, Kingdom Key

Roxas: Oblivion, Two Becomes One

Kairi: Destiny's Embrace

Ventus: Wayward Wind

Vanitas: X-Blade

Riku: Way to the Dawn

Kadaj: Souba

Axel: Chakrams

Terra: Earthshaker

Sephiroth: Masamune

Leon: Lionheart

Seifer: Hyperion

Mind Abilities/Rufus, Tseng

Namine: Artistic Manipulation

Ventus: Empathy

Vanitas: Retrocognition

Kadaj: Seer

Aerith: Clairvoyance, Clairsentience, Aura-Seeing

Tifa: Clairaudience

Zexion: Telepathy

Cloud: Clairvoyance, Clairsentience, Clairaudience, Aura-Seeing, Mind-Mapping

Genesis: Rhapsodomancy

Hayner- Teleportation

Pairings:

(Adults)

Rufus/Reno/Tseng

Xemnas/Saix

Reeve/Lazard

(Students)

Sephiroth/Genesis/Leon/Cloud/Zack/Angeal

Vanitas/Kadaj

Terra/Ventus

Axel/Roxas

Riku/Sora

Vincent/Yazoo

Demyx/Zexion

Kairi/Namine

Loz/Aerith

Rude/Tifa

Seifer/Hayner

(OCs)

Torra/Rene

Ignatius/Zephyr

Sven/Felix

Aura Colors:

(Adults)

Reno- Carmine

Xemnas- Burnt Orange

Saix- Goldenrod

Rufus- Pale Blue/ Sky/ Egyptian Blue

Lazard- Ultramarine/ Royal Blue

Cid- Navy

Tseng- Plum

Reeve- Lavender/ Violet

(Students)

Kairi- Dark Pink

Vanitas- Blood/ Crimson

Axel- Ferrarri/ Scarlet

Leon- Burgundy

Vincent- Wine

Genesis- Scarlet/ Auburn

Zack- Orange

Namine- Pale Yellow/ Banana

Sora- Sunshine

Riku- Aqua

Kadaj- Carribean Green

Yazoo- Cerulean

Loz- Slightly Aqua

Sephiroth- Bright Green

Terra- Indigo

Demyx- Turquoise/ Aquamarine

Zexion- Periwinkle/ Slate

Tifa- Red Violet

Aerith- Pure White

Roxas- Shadow

Seifer- Pale Blue/ Ice

Hayner- Army Green

(OCs)

Ignatius- Fire

Sven- Electric Yellow

Torra- Cool Water

Zephyr- Baby Blue

Rene- Fresh Air

Felix- Cool Lavender


	8. Chapter 7

**Told you I'd have it up quick!**

**Longer chapter! Not by much, but still... **

**A _lot_ of angst in this one guys... and it's a start on the romance aspect of the story. I know I said I'd be writing about the classes this chapter, but Genesis wouldn't have any of it, and decided he was going to go on strike unless I did this his way... *grumble***

**So, here you go! Chapter 7 for real!**

**By the way, 'Class Blocks' are basically periods. Each block is dedicated to a different type of ability. 1st Block are the -kenesis classes, 2nd Block are aportations classes, 3rd is shape shifting, and 4th is the mind abilities (i.e.: telepathy, retrocognition, etc etc). And I also know that there are more students at the Academy, but I'm focusing on ours. At one point you'll hear about something another class is doing or has done, but besides that, there won't to many interactions between the 'Other Students' and ours!**

**_Disclaimed_**_**!**_

* * *

><p>When Genesis woke up the next morning, Cloud wasn't in the room.<p>

Sighing to himself, Genesis assumed the blonde had an earlier class block than he did, like Sephiroth had, and resolved to go back to sleep.

Just as he was snuggling back into his burgundy coverlet, the door opened to admit the same person he'd just been thinking of, carrying a tray filled with food.

"I thought you'd gone to class." Genesis stated, sitting up to face Cloud.

The wheat-haired teen sat the tray down on his desk, "No, I tried to wake you earlier to ask if you'd like to come eat breakfast, but you wouldn't wake up, so I left," Cloud gestured to the food on the desk. "I ate in the cafeteria, but I brought some back for you, if you'd like."

The redhead flushed at the retelling; how stupid was he to not wake up to enjoy a meal with this beauty? Oh well… eating with Cloud in the same room counted, right? "Thank you, Cloud."

Cloud nodded, picking the tray back up and placing it on Genesis' lap, "No problem. I don't have a class until third block, so I'm just gonna stay in here until then."

Genesis nodded, then remembered Cloud couldn't actually see him, "That's cool. I was just going to get some more sleep until my class, which is, coincidentally also in third block,"

"Hmm…"

Silence stretched from there, not quite awkward, but, at the same time, not very comfortable either. Genesis quickly finished with his food, and as he was placing the now-empty tray on the ground, Cloud asked him an unusual question.

"Genesis, what color is your hair?"

The inquiry caused the older man to pause and glance at Cloud. He didn't know how to answer. If Cloud had always been blind, then he wouldn't know what colors were in the first place. "It's red; auburn if you want to be specific. Why?"

Cloud smiled wistfully, "'Auburn' huh? I used to love that color, when I could see, that is…" the teen shook his head softly, "Now, the only colors I see are with my _sight_ and it's all very muted at the least."

"So you haven't always been blind?" Genesis asked with a small frown.

Cloud shook his head again, "No, when I was younger, someone… someone took it away from me."

"'Took it away', as in, they forcefully blinded you? What on Gaia for?" the redhead exclaimed. He couldn't understand why someone would do that to such a beautiful person! It was horrible!

Cloud smiled timidly, "Thank you for the comment, but I doubt if I told you the truth, you wouldn't think I was all that beautiful anymore,"

The older man flushed. There was Cloud's unpredictable clairsentience again, "And I doubt I would be so quick to judge. I don't think you're giving me enough credit, Little Chocobo." A smirk lifted onto the poet's sculpted face.

Now Cloud flushed; he was about to spill his heart out to a man he hadn't even known for a day. Albeit, a handsome man, if his _sight_ was to be trusted, "I'm… different, from other Angels…"

A crude snort, "Please, what could be so different about you that would have others granting physical harm upon you?"

"My wings…

When I was younger, I was something of a prodigy. I was smarter, quicker, better at everything than anyone I knew," it was fact. There was no boasting in the boy's tone; if anything, he sounded rueful, "Add that to my wing abnormality and I had problems with people. There was one boy… he hated me more than anything in the world. He thought I was scum; not even worth being at the bottom of his shoe. He taunted me, pushed me around… but then, it got worse…" Cloud let out a shuddering sigh, and Genesis couldn't help wondering why the blonde was even telling him this, "They used to play a game: 'Catch-the-Freak'. They'd find me, beat me, then pin me to whatever surface I was against, and pull my wings until they hurt so bad I'd scream," Genesis was horrified. This wasn't bullying anymore, this was torment; torture of another living, breathing being. "They'd tell me, that if I ever spoke a word to anyone about what they were doing, they'd find me, rip out my wings, and then go after my little brothers… I just—I couldn't let that happen. I _wouldn't_ let that happen. So I kept quiet, and no one knew about anything until the boy went too far and took away my vision. And to think, it was just because I looked at him for more than a second during training earlier that day…" Cloud obviously didn't notice the tears running down his face, but Genesis did. Every single, sparkling drop of liquid that escaped from Cloud's too-blue eyes took another stab at the redhead's already pain-filled heart.

"Stop!" Cloud looked up, startled at the sharp command, but became silent nonetheless, "I don't want you saying anymore! You're in pain, and I don't want you hurt because I was curious and I pushed…"

Cloud looked away, whipping his eyes of the tears, "Okay…"

Another silence stretched, but this time, Genesis broke it.

"Can I see them?"

Cloud faced him slightly, "Can you see what?"

"Your wings. I want to know what's so horrible about them."

A sigh escaped the blonde, "You really don't wa—"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence! Of course I do! I just listened to you tell me the story of your life, and though I will never know how you truly felt during all those times, I want to see why someone would _ever_ inflicted damage on a person as selfless as you. So, let me see them!"

The teen seemed to gaze at him unsurely, but after a moment, he removed his shirt and, slowly, he released his wings from their confines.

Genesis was amazed. He didn't think it was possible to have wings like this!

Long and leathery, they both extended five feet on each side. They were black as tar, and the thin membrane stretched between each of the 'fingers' was laced with red veins. At the joint, there was a four-inch-long dewclaw.

They were magnificent. Bat-like, and seemingly the manifestation of the opposite of Cloud's personality. Genesis imagined someone evil would have wings like that, while Cloud would have the fluffy white angel's wings, but these wings seemed… right for the blonde. Like, if anyone was going to be different, Cloud would be the one who pulled it off best.

The redhead slid from his bed cautiously, a hand reaching out, "May I touch one?" he questioned, hoping beyond hope that Cloud would allow him the privilege.

Cloud raised an uncertain eyebrow, "You aren't disgusted?"

"Hell no! They're different, which makes them terrifying, but at the same time, it makes them beautiful… just like the person they were granted to…" Genesis stepped forward and without realizing, began to pet the left wing with long, yielding strokes.

The black appendages were soft and furry and warm, despite their leathery, cold appearance. The wing pushed harder against his wandering hand, and Genesis looked over to see Cloud's head tucked slightly into his chest, breathing deeply and contently.

Sudden and sharp, Genesis felt a surge of protectiveness at the sight of the vulnerable blonde, and he vowed right then and there to not let anyone hurt the teen every again.

_Mine!_

Startled, Genesis frowned at the thought. He only ever got like this where one of his lovers was concerned. Though, looking the boy over, Genesis wouldn't mind including Cloud into their circle. Not one bit. But his lovers were another story entirely…

He'd speak with them about Cloud later, during third block… Maybe—maybe he had a chance at helping Cloud…

If only Genesis had remembered that the past had a way of coming back to bite people in the ass…

* * *

><p><strong>Did you enjoy? I hope you did!<strong>

**Next chappy might take a little longer, mostly because of school, but it's in-progress right now, so hold on tight!**

**See you soon!**

**R&R!**


	9. Chapter 8

**OMG! It's been _forever_! I'm soo sorry for not uploading sooner, but I haven't had internet for_ months_! **

**Genesis: **Well then don't waste time talking! Get on with it!

**Okay okay!**

* * *

><p>Someone was shaking him… really <em>hard<em>.

Groaning, Cloud rolled over onto his side, away from the person currently annoying him, "Urg… Sora, go away!" Grumbling sleepily, the blond buried himself further into his bed sheets.

"—oud! Cloud! _CLOUD! _Wake up! You fell asleep! We have to go to homeroom!"

He recognized that voice…

_Genesis_…

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up… Stop _shaking_ me!" Cloud rolled from his warm bed and stood up, stretching his arms high and yawning. He felt his shirt ride up a little, and he thought he heard a hitch in Genesis' breathing, but he figured the auburnet was just huffing. He didn't notice the slight pink tint that the man's normally scarlet aura took.

"L-let's just go to class. I think we have lunch together, so meet me in the dining hall, alright?" Genesis suggested, politely turning away from the delicious strip of skin Cloud was currently flaunting.

Lowering his arms, Cloud gave a short nod, "Yeah, okay. That is, of course, if Tifa or my brothers don't get me first… then I might have some trouble reaching you."

Genesis smirked, "Maybe you can introduce me to them? Then I'll introduce you to some of _my_ friends. I'm sure you'd get along splendidly with Zack or Leon; the troublemakers,"

Cloud laughed, "Maybe I'll do that instead! It would save me te trouble of explaining after Sora tackle-hugs me."

"I'll see you then?" the redhead asked.

Cloud smiled, "Yeah, of course! Now, let's get to class before we're late."  
>=3=<p>

Homeroom was uneventful for Cloud. The teacher just talked about things relevant to the students who knew what the hell she was talking about.

The only thing she said directly to the Strife brothers was 'Good luck' on the day ahead.

The second the bell rang, Cloud was the first out of the class. He ignored his brothers' calls for him to wait up, and continued down the hall.

Cloud made it to the dining hall in no time, dashing passed people and other obstacles with no problem.

Just as he entered the fragrant room, a familiar, comforting hand landed on his shoulder and a warm red aura enveloped his senses, "Hello Genesis. I hope I'm not late."

A snort, "Late? Cloud, you're actually _early_! None of my friends have even arrived yet."

"Oh really? Then how come you're here?" Cloud questioned, turning so that he faced the auburnet.

Genesis smiled at the blind teen, "My class is close by chickabo; I stepped in right after you did and grabbed you before you could run off again."

"Oh…" Cloud blushed. Now he felt stupid for rushing off like that. He just didn't want to be distracted from his lunch with Genesis and his friends.

Genesis stroked a red cheek with the pad of his finger, "You really are quite adorable when you blush, do you know that?"

Cloud just blushed harder and stayed silent.

Suddenly an orange sphere tackled Genesis' scarlet in a clash of fiery sparks, "GENESIS!"

Cloud jumped back from the aural explosion with a sharp yelp. He collided with someone who shouted _'Hey!'_ and pushed him away. The blond stumbled from the shove and started to fall. He was prepared for impact when his momentum was stopped by strong arms around his middle.

Time stopped for a moment before Cloud's sense came crashing back. He yelped again and beat on whoever's arms were around him, "No! Get off! Let go, let go!"

"Hey! I'm only trying to help!" A grunt came from Cloud's captor when he landed a particularly sharp jab on his ribs.

"Angeal! Let him go!"

Cloud gasped when the arms suddenly stopped supporting his body weight, but he jerked away as fast as he could, "Genesis!"

The familiar red aura once again enveloped Cloud as the red-head pulled the blond close, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

The teen shook his head, which was buried in Genesis' chest, and shuddered violently. The bright flashed from the two aura's clashing still had Cloud's mind seeing stars.

"Um, Gen what the hell? Who is this kid?"

"That's the blind kid who's rooming with Genesis! Is he alright?" Cloud recognized the calm, deep voice of Leon, and soon after, felt a hand rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. The darker maroon of Leon's aura joined Genesis' in wrapping him in warmth.

"I'm okay… I just had a bit of an overload. Sorry," he muttered pulling away from the auburnet carefully.

Genesis frowned, "Do _not_ apologize! Gaia Cloud, you act like you killed someone!"

The blond ducked his head, staying silent.

Genesis noted the submissive position and sighed, "Whatever, let's just eat. I'm starving." The red-head turned to his wary friends, "Ang, Zack, Seph this is Cloud Strife. Cloud, these are my friends Angeal Hewley, Zackary Fair, and Sephiroth Crescent."

Cloud waved half-heartedly, "Hi. Sorry about that…"

Zack bounced over to the teen, "No prob, man! You gonna hang with us today?"

Cloud shrugged, "Yeah, I think so," he looked toward Genesis questioningly.

"Mmhm, he's with us today boys. Be nice

* * *

><p><strong>You like? Tell me about it!<strong>

R&R


	10. AN

**Hey guys! It's Tora (Number XVI)! **

**I want to apologize for taking so damn long to update. It wasn't my intention to make this story feel neglected. **_**Sight**_** is most definitely **_**not**_** discontinued or even on hiatus! Last year near Christmas, my old computer started acting up and deleting random documents from its hard-drive; one of which happened to be **_**Sight**_**. I tried to fix it, but it wouldn't listen to me **_**at all**_**! Eventually, it just shut down completely and I was never able to turn it back on. I only just got a new computer recently for my birthday, and I took some time to get used to the new system before I went about rewriting **_**Sight**_**'s newest chapter, and sprucing up some of the stuff I've already posted for it.**

**One of the things I changed was the name for 'shadow manipulation'. I personally didn't like typing that whole thing out all the time, so I went online and looked up the Latin word for 'shadow' and made up a new name! Braekenesis (pronounced 'bray-kenesis) is a word derived from a shortened version of 'tenebrae' (shadow) and the –kenesis suffix. Thankfully 'brae' means 'darkness' in Latin, so it still kind of works… Sorry if it's lame, but I'm a little attached to the word now!**

**Anyway, the new chapter is on its way, and it should be up very soon! Now I'm gonna do something I've never done before and answer some Reviewer questions! **

**animegirl004: **Sora and Roxas are 15, Ventus and Vanitas are 16, and Cloud is 18. Sora is the youngest, then Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas, and obviously Cloud! All their information is in chapter 7: People, Powers, and Definitions. Hope this answered your question! And their wings will be revealed during the next chapter, when everybody meets everybody.

**zimithrus1: **Yeah, sorry about not updating for so long. I would've put a notice or warning up but, as the case may be, I couldn't… Thank you for the comment though! I really appreciate know that people like this story as much as I like writing it! I'll be sure to update as soon as the chapter is finished!

**Guest: **You didn't leave a more specific name, so I hope you know who you are! Thank you for the review, and don't worry, this story is far from over, and is in no danger of being discontinued!

**I just want to thank everyone who reviewed for doing so! You kept my hopes up by giving me proof that people were still reading even though I wasn't able to update! You guys are what kept me thinking about this story, and how I could make it better! Thanks always!**

**Ja ne**

**~Tora**


	11. Chapter 9

_Tell me honestly: how many of you were eagerly awaiting this chapter?_

_I finally did it guys! I finished this chapter, and now I've updated **Sight** like I know everyone wanted me to. _

_Honestly, I just want to thank everyone who's given me reviews even while I haven't been updating. You guys really helped me get this chapter up! I couldn't have done it without you, I swear!_

_Without further adieu, I give you: **The Latest Chapter of Sight**! Enjoy!**  
><strong>_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own anything!_

**Warnings:** _Vanitas makes things a little bit... spicy._

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><p>Once the six of them managed to get their food and find a place to sit, lunch was in full swing and the dining hall was becoming loud and crowded. From where he sat, Cloud could see the collage of auras all jostling for a space in the packed line. He was grateful to Genesis for guiding him through the large room. With all the people there, the blond didn't know if he would've been able to find the others without his help.<p>

"So, tell us about yourself, Spike!" Zack bounced lightly in his chair next to Angeal, smiling at the small blond, though he knew the other couldn't see it.

"Like what?" Cloud questioned in confusion.

"Well, what do you like to do? What _can_ you do? You have any siblings here? Are you an only child? Got any friends yet? Can we be your friends? I'd like to be friends with you! That'd be awesome!" Zack's bouncing could be felt through the table as Cloud tried to absorb what was being said to him. Did Zack breathe at all during that?

Genesis smirked at Cloud's bewildered expression, laughing quietly behind his hand. The small blond pouted and whapped the older man on the arm, which only incited further laughter, this time from everyone. The teen pouted for a moment longer before giving in and giggling a little himself.

"Well," Cloud started when he could finally control himself. "I like to listen to music, and fly, especially at night. I like feeling as if I'm the only one awake in a sleeping world and the skies are only mine, if just for a little while…" a wistful look came over Cloud's face, and the others could only watch the teen's face soften beautifully as he thought. The blond seemed to come back to himself with a blush and an embarrassed cough, ducking his head slightly, "A-as for what I can do… well, I'm a Shape shifter, I can see auras, I'm clairsentient, clairaudient and clairvoyant, and I can also do something I call Mind-mapping. It's a bit like a sonar, except instead of using sounds, I use the auras that emit from everything in the world to help me create a 3D map in my head of the surrounding area. For example: by touching the table, I can basically see everything and everyone in this cafeteria. I could already see all the living things in here due to my aura-seeing, but mind-mapping allows me to see the inanimate objects, and then put the two things together into a visible picture in my mind. The only downside is that, apart from the auras of people, everything is in black and white generally."

Cloud could practically _feel_ the surprise coming from the five others at the table with him.

"Wow… that's, like, _incredibly_ freaking _amazing_! I'm not even kidding right now! What animal do you shift into?" Zack was currently his own personal earthquake he was bouncing so hard, and everyone had to grab their drinks or risk them spilling onto their laps.

"Erm, I'm a wolf…" Cloud said uncertainly, slightly afraid that if the other man became any more excited, he'd leap across the table.

"_Seriously!_ So am I! And Angeal! That's _so cool_!"

Before Cloud could come up with a proper response, if there was one, a sudden call of his name interrupted him.

"Cloud! This is where you ran off to? We were looking for you and we couldn't find you and I was freaking out and who are these people? Hi! I'm Sora; I'm Cloud's younger brother! We were looking for him and we couldn't find him, is this where he was? Were you taking care of him? I hope so cuz Roxy and Tifa would be so mad if you weren— mmphf!"

"Sora, breathe. In. Out. There you go." Vanitas patted his younger brother on the head and used his hair to wipe off any excess spit from the younger brunet's prattling mouth.

"Vanita-_aaas_ sto-op! You're messing up my hair!" Sora whined and clutched his head protectively. Vanitas rolled his golden eyes and grinned in a devil-may-kiss-my-ass way.

"Were you really looking for me?" Cloud butt in, eyebrow furrowing cutely. "Didn't I tell you I was meeting up with someone for lunch?"

"No, Cloud," Roxas came forward, hands in the pockets of his checkered jacket, "you didn't. We've been chasing Sora around for a good ten minutes now. I was going to wait for him to have a panic attack before I pointed you out to him, but he managed to find you all on his own." The cow-licked blond gave his slightly younger brother a sarcastically proud look. Sora pouted at him in a way that definitely proved he was Cloud's brother.

Genesis finally coughed to get their attention, "Are you going to introduce us, Cloud?"

"Oh, yeah," the older blond pointed in the direction of the bubbly brunet who'd shown up first, then the black-haired kid who looked like his darker-colored identical twin, "This is the youngest Sora, and the oldest Vanitas," then Cloud gestured to the blond in the checkered jacket and someone looked like his identical twin in every way, "this is Sora's older twin Roxas, and this is Vanitas' younger twin Ventus. Van and Ven are sixteen and Roxas and Sora are fifteen." Cloud's hand fell limply back to the table.

"Hold up," Leon put the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, "So, you're telling me that the identicals are separated into a pair of fraternals?"

"Deja vu…" All four boys shared a look, "but, yeah, basically."

"Weird…"

Ventus sidled up to his older brother with a smile, "So Cloud, who are your friends?"

"I'm Genesis Rhapsodos," the auburn stated almost immediately, "and this is Zackary Fair, Angeal Hewley, Squall Leonhart—"

"It's 'Leon'! Goddess damn you!"

"—and Sephiroth Crescent." Genesis continued as if the younger brunet hadn't spoken. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"So _you're_ Cloud's roommate?" Sora piped up, "He doesn't generally get along with new people this well; I'm kind of surprised!" The spiky-haired boy's smile could've lit a dark cave it was so bright. The teen leaned close, "Has he told you about… y'know…" he gestured vaguely to Cloud's back, "His wings?"

Genesis nodded solemnly.

"Even better," Sora straightened up with another sunny smile. "Well, I've gotta go! I promised I'd sit with Riku today for lunch, and that I'd drag Roxas along to entertain Axel!" As the boy walked away, he snagged a protesting Roxas' sleeve in one hand and waved with the other, "I'm sure I'll see a couple of you in classes later! Ciao!"

"Ya know…" Vanitas started, "I didn't think that boy could get _any_ gayer than he was, but he just proved me wrong." At his side, Ventus snickered and shook his head at his twin's comment.

"Leave him alone, Van," Ventus nudged his brother's shoulder playfully, "it's not his fault no one back home interested him."

"Which is weird," Vanitas stated thoughtfully. "considering that you could entertain him with a shiny object dangling from a string for _hours_."

Cloud giggled slightly at that mental image, and the fact that it was, sadly, true.

"Hey Seph," A new voice called from the crowd. "Do you have any money I could borrow for lunch?"

A short, slender silver-haired teen sauntered over to the table wearing a thin black shirt that was nearly translucent, and a pair of skin-tight leather pants. He slunk gracefully over to Sephiroth, who was very obviously his older brother. And if not that, they were clearly related in some way.

Sephiroth's brows furrowed, "What happened to your money?"

"Loz used it on his girlfriend as far as I know, but he _says_ he can't pay me back until Friday…" the teen grumbled irritably.

"Kadaj…"

"Oh, don't 'Kadaj…' me! You know _none_ of us can withstand those damn puppy-dog eyes!" At this Kadaj leveled an evil glare at Zack who pretended to look apologetic, "And I will never forgive you for that Zackary!"

"What's with everyone calling me 'Zackary' today?" the man said exasperated.

Kadaj rolled his eyes, "Anyway, do you have any money or don't you? I can't stand here all day, or the all the good food'll be gone!"

"I do not have any money with me. I apologize, Kadaj."

"Goddess dammit…" The younger silverette through his hands in the air in defeat, "At this rate I'm going to starve…"

"Heh, I've got some money." Vanitas said, sly smile edging its way onto his face, "Of course…" the black-haired boy paused, eyeing Kadaj up and down exaggeratedly to make his interest quite clear, "It has conditions."

Kadaj looked up skeptically while Sephiroth narrowed his eyes dangerously at Cloud's younger brother, "What kind of _conditions_?"

"Oh, nothing too horrible…" Vanitas shrugged, deceptively noncommittal, but he flashed a wicked smirk at the probably older boy, "You just gotta go on a date with me."

Sephiroth looked about ready to commit genocide, "Absolutely no—"

"Sure, what the hell," Kadaj shrugged-cutting across his brother's comment completely-, and sidled over to Vanitas like a cat stalking its prey. "You're pretty cute; as long as you show me a good time, I don't mind. Besides, you look pretty…" Kadaj gave Van an equally vicious smile back, something manic glinting in his too-green eyes, "Fun." The silverette snatched up the money that Van had fished out of his wallet moments prior. Making sure to lean in close enough for Van to feel his breath against his mouth, but the boy didn't even seemed fazed by Kadaj's nearness, only smirking with his sunshine eyes half-lidded and an eyebrow raised, "Friday, seven, dorm 169; don't be late."

"Sure thing, Dollface," Van leaned in much closer, until almost no space resided between them, "and if I may, I think you look like a bit of a Hellcat yourself…" and without touching the other boy at all, Van leaned in so that his lips were virtually making contact with the silverette's paper-pale ear and, as he felt the boy shiver, practically _purred_, "_Kadaj…_" in an intimate whisper that was laced with delicious sin and the naughty things that Vanitas wanted to do to the boy currently in front of him before pulling away abruptly with an impish smirk shot at both the nearly boneless boy he just seduced effortlessly, and said boy's seething older brother and the rest of the table's occupants. "I'll see you later Cloud; Cloud's friends." With a nod and a jaunty wave, Vanitas dragged his amused twin away to procure food, while leaving his newest interest high and dry in the process.

A suddenly awkward atmosphere descended over their corner of the dining hall as Kadaj managed to pull himself back together and wander off. Zack and Leon were trying desperately to hide how amused they were, and Angeal was glancing a bit worriedly at Sephiroth—who practically had steam whistling from his ears—but seemed mostly amused himself. Genesis wasn't even trying to hide his entertained grin, which only made Sephiroth more irritated.

To disperse the weird mood before it settled in, Cloud attempted to apologize for his sibling's behavior, "Hey, look, I'm sorry for Vanitas… he's just—"

"I swear Cloud," Sephiroth interrupted, "if your brother makes _one_ wrong move, I _will_ kill him."

The blond frowned dangerously at the long-haired man; momentarily making him forget his anger in exchange for being surprised the teen could even make that face, let alone use it with any effect, "He won't do something like that! Vanitas is brash, I'll give you that, but he's loyal, and if he's even slightly interested in Kadaj he'll stay that way for a long time! So don't go threatening my brother or you'll be fucking with the wrong family! Because even though you'll be going after _him_, you'll face _me_, and I won't give you a battle," Cloud's blue eye's nearly glowed as he narrowed them into thin slits, intimidating Sephiroth, though he didn't show it. "I'll give you a _war_."

"Is that a _threat_?"

"No. It's a _promise_."

It was at that moment that everyone at the table made themselves a mental note to _never_ get on Cloud's bad side. While he may not look it, they all figured Cloud wouldn't idly make '_promises_' like that unless he had the strength to back it up. Even Sephiroth found himself intrigued—and slightly enamored— by what else the little blond hid within that unassuming body of his.

"Of course,"

And if Genesis' intentions with the teen were being read correctly, the older silverette figured he'd soon have all the time in the world to find out _all_ the little quirks and machinations that made up Cloud Strife.

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><p><em>Ooo, Cloud got a little protective there didn't he? Heh, wonderful! Now they know not to underestimate him, even though we all know they will anyway...<em>

_Hope you liked it! R&R lovelies!_

_Ja ne  
>~Tora<em>


	12. Chapter 10

**Hey! I'm back! And the wait wasn't so long this time!**

**Here's chapter 10. I've been working on it sporadically over the last few weeks because of tests and finals for school, so, yeah. I hope it's not as crappy as I think it is!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Lunch ended on a bit of a quiet note after that as everyone tried to get over their sudden irrational fear of Cloud's anger.

As they were putting their plates away, Genesis remembered what they had this block, "So Cloud, are you going to be joining us for our shape-shifting classes?"

The blond paused to think but nodded, "Yeah, with… Reno and Saix, right?"

"Unfortunately…" Sephiroth grumbled from the auburn's other side. The silverette was still peeved about the prank the supposed 'teacher' managed to convince Zack and Leon to pull last year. His hair almost didn't recover from being dyed lavender…

"Hey, Saix isn't so bad," Genesis nudged Seph's side playfully. The man directed his next comment at Cloud, "He's kind of scary at first, considering his facial expressions generally never change unless he's with Xemnas, his lover… but seeing as how you can't actually _see_ his facial expressions, or lack thereof, I don't think that should bother you too much. His aura seems like it would be fairly dark though, so be on the lookout for that." Genesis shrugged helplessly, "Now Reno, on the other hand, is a bit of a trickster and would probably play a joke on you just as soon as he'd actually help someone do something _productive_. Watch out for him too, if you don't like activities like that." The redhead glanced over at Seph in barely concealed amusement.

"You forget," Cloud chuckled, "that I've got _four_ younger brothers; two of which are clever enough to think up pretty funny pranks, and one who's stupid enough to do them. The other one is smart enough to stay the hell away when the other three pull said pranks, especially if they're done so on Roxas' best friend's boyfriend, Seifer…" Cloud rolled his eyes, "Personally, I think if they're dumb enough to try and prank that asshole, they deserve whatever shit they get back in return."

"Sounds like fun!" Zack commented with a smile, ignoring Angeal's slight warning scowl, "I bet your brothers, Leon, and I could think up _way_ better pranks then Reno any day!"

"Wanna put your money where your mouth is, yo?"

Cloud hadn't even realized that they'd been walking towards the classroom, and he whirled around when he nearly ran straight into a playful, bright carmine aura.

"Sure! You're on, _yo_!" Zack crowed.

Reno scowled at the use of his catchphrase, but he smirked in what looked like early victory, "Don' be so sure, _Puppy_, you don' have anythin' on me, yo."

"Aren't supposed to be teaching, _not_ pulling practical jokes on your own _students_?" Sephiroth deadpanned.

Reno just waved off the emotionless question, "Meh, my motto is ya gotta have fun while you're workin', otherwise your work ain't gonna be fun! B'sides, s'not like I'm gonna _kill_ nobody! Just givin' myself a li'l entertainment!" the brighter redhead grinned.

"Careful with your words there, Red," Leon cautioned. "People might get ideas about the _kind_ of entertainment you're giving yourself."

Reno's grin just widened, "Aw, shaddup Leonhart! I've got two lovers who're sure I _never_ hafta do that! Don't be jealous!"

"There's only one problem with that statement, Fox." Leon stated as he walked past the lanky redhead into the classroom, "I've got _four_."

Reno's expression dropped, "Well shit… Ya got me there, Lion…"

Genesis snickered as he led a blushing Cloud and a guffawing Zack into the large room behind the brunet man. Angeal raised an eyebrow reprovingly, but smiled fondly none the less and Sephiroth felt that he was a little avenged with that comment and snuck a smug smirk in Reno's direction.

Reno stuck his tongue out childishly and was swiftly smacked upside the head by tall, imposing—not as much as Sephiroth, but enough to be effective—cerulean-haired man with a dark goldenrod yellow aura who happened to be the other teacher Saix. Reno yelped at the sharp pain and clutched his head while Sephiroth sent him another unconcealed smug look as he stepped passed him into the room.

"I wouldn't do something like that if I were you, Sinclair. Sephiroth is likely to carve that out of your mouth." Saix's yellow eyes slid sideways to appraise the redhead from the side, "I cannot see how that would be a preferred situation to keeping the appendage in your mouth to use another day."

"He can't do nothin', yo. I'm a teacher!" Reno waved the comments away like annoying flies.

"Perhaps, but even _I_ wouldn't anger Sephiroth intentionally. I believe it is not wise to continue antagonizing him." The blunet pointed out. While friendly advice and warnings were not his forte, Saix knew that Sephiroth had boundaries, and if Reno continued toeing them, he was going to cross a line somewhere and then there would be no going back.

"Whatever…" Reno muttered as he skulked moodily into his classroom.

Cloud was ushered passed a group of six auras and towards two other people he didn't know. One had an aura a similar color to Riku's aqua, but a brighter green, like Sephiroth's. The teen assumed he was related to the two and Kadaj in some way. The other had a dark burgundy aura that Cloud was wary of. The person didn't seem bad, but dark auras tended to be trouble. The blond would have to judge the person by their personality before he could make a definitive verdict.

"Good afternoon, ya punks!" the redhead, who had immediately perked up at the sight of his students, scanned the room and suddenly registered that Seph's gang seemed to have brought along a little friend, "Looks like we got a new student, yo; waz your name, chocobo?"

The blond sitting in the center of the group of older men scowled at his teacher, "Well, it's certainly not _chocobo_!" Zack nudged the boy softly, "But my name is Cloud Strife, if you must know."

"You're a li'l spitfire, ain't ya? I don't mind tha mouthin' off, just don' do it too much, yo. I _am_ your teacher after all." Reno smirked, "Anyway, I know tha rest of ya know what this class is for, but for Cloud's sake, Imma explain it again. Most angels don't realize that you can use several of your powers at the same time. That's why I'm here. The whole purpose of this class is ta teach ya how to use your other abilities while in your animal form. Now, some of you may already know how to do that, but I can guarantee it's basic at best." The redhead strolled around the room as he spoke, his hands moving and swaying with his words, "It's a common fact that most animals have _much_ better senses than us. They hear better, see better; so why can't this be used to our advantage as Shape shifters? I'm here ta teach ya how to incorporate the senses you gain from your animal side, into your powers.

"For example, if you use a natural –kenesis, as I like to call it, such as, say, pyrokenesis, you can use your animal form to amplify the ability tenfold. You can make your claws and teeth white-hot so that you burn while you tear, but you won't be harmed because the fire is yours to control.

"Another example would be hydrokenesis. Seeing as how you control the water, swimming and diving is your advantage.

"Now, sometimes, you don't have another power besides shape shifting, or your other power is practically rendered useless while in your animal form, which brings me to the second reason for this class, and why Saix is here. He is supposed to teach you to fight as an animal. I help you incorporate and use your senses and abilities, and he helps you put them into a combat situation." Reno ended his speech with a sharp clap and a playful smile, "Now that he's been introduced, and you've been reviewed, go get ready! Cloud, did you bring a change of clothes, or has Reeve already gotten you your uniform?"

"What?" Cloud asked confusedly, "I wasn't ever told that I would need a uniform… and why would I need a change of clothes? Isn't what I'm wearing okay?" the blond shifted uncomfortably when he felt the eyes of the class boring into his body.

"Well, unless ya wan' 'em fallin' off, ya need a uniform. It's designed to stay on your body while you're in your animal form." Reno clarified.

"But… my clothes just disappear when I transform. And they're on me when I change back…" Cloud looked around at all the confused auras, "Isn't that supposed to happen? That's how I've always done it…"

Both Reno and Saix looked a bit mystified by Cloud's admission.

"It's perfectly normal," Reno started, "for someone my age who's been transforming regularly for most of their _life_!" the vermillion-haired man waved his hands in the air like a lunatic.

"What Sinclair means," Saix stepped in, glaring at his coworker in a way that told him to calm the hell down. "is that it's not unheard of for someone to be able to do such a thing as soon as they learn that they have the ability, but it's not exactly common. Of course, he and I can do it, but that's what we've been trained to do." Saix considered Cloud curiously, "How exactly did you come to be able to do it?"

"Erm…" The blond ducked his head, "The- the first time I transformed, the situation was not a favorable one… I just remember needing to get away quickly, and it just happened. When I changed back, my clothes were just on. I thought it was perfectly normal, considering I've never met any other shifters until now."

The group surrounding Cloud shared a look of awe as Reno gaped. Saix nudged his redheaded partner, who sputtered for a moment before composing himself and sliding his natural look back onto his face.

"Well, as Saix said, it's unusual, but not unheard of. I can work with it, yo." Reno shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do' kind of way before ushering the other members of the class to the small changing rooms in the back of the room to change. "Hurry back, yo. Today's lesson is special!"

"Oh, yippee…" Genesis muttered, inciting a giggle from Cloud. The auburnet smiled fondly at the blond before slinking off to shove Zack out of the way of a changing room.

As the others were busy putting on their uniforms, Cloud stayed sitting where he was and waited for them to come back, but the auras that approached several seconds later were not familiar to him. The blond tensed and jumped when one of them spoke.

"Hi! Um, sorry if I startled you, I didn't mean to. I'm Rene," Cloud identified her as the one with an aura color that reminded Cloud of fresh air.

"Um… no problem," Cloud searched their auras uncertainly, wary of their intentions.

Rene beamed, "Anyway, these are my friends Zephyr and his boyfriend Ignatius, and Sven and his lover Felix." Rene gestured to a short boy with a baby blue aura and a taller boy with an aura that shifted and writhed like fire. Beside them were two other, much taller men: the shorter with a very light lavender aura, almost metallic, and the taller with a crackling neon yellow aura that nearly gave Cloud a headache. Rene shifted closer to one last person; a woman with an aura that flowed about her like water. Cloud imagined he could feel it cooling him down. "And this is my girlfriend, Torra! We just wanted to introduce ourselves because you missed the first day when we went through that whole process."

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you." Cloud replied politely, relaxing now that he knew who they were.

"What do ya shif' ta?" Sven asked in a rough, oddly sharp voice, like the snap of a lightning bolt. Cloud took a moment to process the question, slightly shocked at the sound of the other boy's unique vocal pattern.

"Erm, I transform into a wolf. What about you?"

"Ah'm a cheetah, Felix here's a panther, li'l Zephyr is a snow leopard, Iggy's a lion, Rene's a cougar, and big alpha Torra ova there's a tiger." Zephyr nudged Sven lightly, "Uh oh, class's 'bout ta start. Talk ta ya later, Cloudy."

The strange group of six strode off to their corner just as Genesis and the others came back.

"What was that about?" Zack probed quietly, a feat Cloud was sure, as Genesis peered suspiciously towards the other side of the room.

Cloud shrugged, "I'm not sure. They just wanted to introduce themselves, I guess."

"Hmm…" Sephiroth's bright green aura lightened slightly in curiosity, but he said nothing.

Reno and Saix sauntered back to the front of the class from wherever they slunk off to and the redhead clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. A smile of near unholy glee slithered smoothly across Reno's thin features, and Cloud gulped at the oddly pleased spike of green in otherwise carmine aura.

"Alright class, let's begin."

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><p><strong>Oh shit, and I promised myself I would never leave a cliffhanger.<strong>

**So? What do you think? Any good? Review loverlies! I live off them!**

**~Tora**


	13. Chapter 11

**What's up guys? Here's the newest chapter! Hope you like it!**

**Towards the end, there'll be some italicizing weirdness... I just want you to know that I'm actually referring to two diffent people in that paragraph. One person's italicized and bold, the other is just normal text. Remember that.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own!**

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

"Today you're going to be partnering up and sparring using whatever you can. This is a test to see what you all are capable of and what needs to be worked on, be it your individual power, or overall combat prowess.

"I can only give you the basics, it's up to you to further the knowledge given and perfect it into your own personal style. I am permitted to give any of those who feel lacking training time during off periods or during afternoons and weekends; during those times, I can help with personal fighting techniques, but during class I can only give general teachings." Saix paused his spiel for a moment to stare disinterestedly at the crowd of students. "As you can see, this room is set up for observations," the blunet gestured to the high ceilings and one way mirrors up on the second floor of the large room. "At any point, one of the directors could be watching. I demand nothing but respect for myself and my teachings. If you can't handle that, leave."

"What Scarface here means," Reno started, stepping around the larger man gracefully, "Is that he don't take no shit from no one, yo. So watch yourself when he's doin' his thing! Now me, one the other hand," the redhead paced around the front of the gathering, "I don't mind a li'l back sass, as long as it's tasteful and has nothin' ta do with my mama!"

Sven snorted, "Ah call bullshi'!" the tall blond cackled, electric green eyes flashing with amusement. Felix elbowed him roughly, long black hair swishing with the abrupt movement, silver-blue eyes narrowed in warning, "Ow! Muthafuckin'— Felix, calm yer tits! Ah'm just fuckin' wit' 'im ya asshole! Jeez…" Sven grinned crookedly at his lover who only rolled his eyes in vague amusement.

Reno pointed violently at the two, as if they just answered a hard question, "That! That is the perfect example of 'good' back sass!"

"As I was saying," Saix shoved Reno out of the way. "Please pair up and I will give further details. For once there's an even number… Zack, for the day, would you please stick with Cloud? Leon, you're with Angeal."

Cloud hadn't expected this. He thought he would've gotten Genesis at the least. The blond turned to Zack, "Is that okay? I mean, I don't want to disrupt anything…"

"Nah, that's fine," Zack waved off the apology. "Generally, I, Leon, and Angeal have to group together anyway 'cuz Gen's a special case. He has to work with Seph because he's probably the only one who knows his limits when it comes to Gen's animal form." Zack winked exaggeratedly, purple eyes framed gorgeously by thick lashes. Cloud's only hint that the older man even moved was his orange aura took on a suggestive flash of pink and a mischievous streak of yellow. "There's a reason Ginger's nickname is Songbird, y'know. He's not much of a fighter in his Shift form; more of a magic user. He knows more magic than this whole school combined, 'cept for maybe Mansex and the Director. Seph's the only one who can keep up with him."

"Oh? Wow, that's cool!" Cloud was positively beaming at the tall raven, and Zack was caught off guard by the entirely earnest expression that took over the lovely blond's face.

"Careful there, Puppy, you're drooling." Leon murmured as he strutted passed, smirking sympathetically.

Zack snapped his hand to his mouth, furiously wiping, only to come away with nothing. He glared petulantly at his younger brunet lover who shrugged unapologetically, still smirking.

"So, I'm gonna change now," Zack shot Leon one last glare before moving off from Cloud slightly and transforming.

To anyone who wasn't a Shifter, a transformation would look painful, but it really wasn't. The natural magic of an Angel protects a Shifter's body from feeling the actual change. In fact, Cloud could see as Zack's orange aura swirled around his body protectively, encompassing and pressing tightly to keep the shift going smoothly. Even as the blond listened to the crackles and pops of bones breaking and reforming differently around him as others started their own transformations, he knew no one felt any pain.

Cloud waited until he felt the brush of long fur against his hand before he started his own change.

It happened quickly, as it always did, and it wasn't long until Cloud was standing on four paws and shaking out his fluffy golden fur.

Zack really couldn't keep his eyes off Cloud's gorgeous wolf form. Neither could any of the others. Even Sephiroth slunk over to have a closer peek; Genesis perched regally on his back.

Cloud lowered his chest to the floor and stretched out his front legs, hindquarters in the air. Leon had to consciously turn away and Angeal had to bodily shove Zack's head in the opposite direction before he did something he'd regret. Once Cloud was sitting neatly, done with his stretching, Zack snapped at the bigger wolf's muzzle, forcing the big male off, and trotted over to Cloud. He sniffed the blond all over, before stepping back to really admire how Cloud looked seated among his lovers.

The blond was not one flat golden color, as Zack first perceived. His chest, stomach, and the short 'socks' on his feet were a much lighter cream color and the sclera around his bright blue eyes had filled in black, much like Angeal's and his own had.

The other dark wolf took a seat next to Cloud, making the already small wolf look practically tiny. Of course, Angeal was a mammoth of an animal, much like he was a tank of a man. Both forms were built like a brick wall and just as moveable. The older wolf had long, shaggy fur and from farther away, he would look flat black, but as close as Zack was, he could see the slate highlights streaking through the course hair.

Leon was lounging off to the side, waiting for Angeal. His lion form was beautiful, regal and severe, like his human form tended to be. He too had shaggy fur, but in chocolate brown instead of black. His mane was thick and full, with two fairly even strips of grey-ish white that highlighted his neck and led down toward his broad chest. His belly was the same near-white color, as well as his muzzle, the fur around his eyes, and his toes, funnily enough.

Sephiroth finally joined them, and Genesis hopped off his free ride to inspect Cloud closely.

The only other cat of their group was slightly smaller in this form than Leon's lion form. His fur was sleek and shiny, and in the right light, it shone silver instead of midnight-black. His cat-green eyes were scrutinizing Cloud with apparent interest.

Genesis hopped closer to Cloud and tugged on a bit of blond fur with his razor-sharp beak, getting his attention. The wolf leaned down and sniffed at Genesis curiously.

'_Genesis?'_ Cloud regarded Genesis's aura suspiciously, not entirely sure what exactly the older man's Shift Form was. _'What are you?'_

'_A Phoenix!'_ The fiery plumage on Genesis' chest puffed up in pride, followed shortly by the rest of his vibrant feathers when Sephiroth nudged him gently out of the way to get a closer look at the new wolf himself. As the exotic bird crowed indignantly, the panther circled Cloud inquisitively, and Cloud sat tall and proud throughout the perusal, ears perked and face serious.

If Zack didn't know better, he'd say the boy already had some military training of some kind.

Sephiroth came around to Cloud's front and sat primly in front of him. They seemed to stare at each other intensely for several seconds. Suddenly, the fearsome panther abruptly leaned in real close to the lighter form and _licked Cloud on the nose!_

The wolf yipped, jumping up. The rough sandpaper tongue of his friend tickled his sensitive nose something fierce. Cloud whipped around at Zack's huffing laughter and dropped down to his chest, ass high, tail waving.

Zack responded in kind, crouching playfully and giving a short growl. Cloud charged his friend swiftly, tumbling them both end over end across the room, the others quickly forgotten in the midst of their play.

Another silver-black panther came up silently beside Sephiroth: his brother, Yazoo. They were nearly identical, the only difference between being the fact that Sephiroth's eyes were a brighter green. Behind the two smaller felines, near a lounging Leon, a massive tiger dropped heavily onto its side, stretching out its impressive length languidly. Its stripes were so broad it looked almost completely black, with only bits of scarlet-red fur peeking out timidly between the bands of overbearing obsidian fur. It heaved a great sigh and nudged the brown lion lightly with its back paws to get more room.

'_Jeez, Vincent… Just take up the whole training room, why don't you…' _Leon grunted querulously, but obliged the large cat, knowing that Vincent's size wasn't just show, and the older man's strength while in this form was nothing to shake a stick at.

'_Don't mind if I do.'_ Vincent rumbled back, red eyes barely visible underneath half-closed lids. Vincent was Yazoo's lover. At twenty-one, he was older than Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis.

_Speaking of Genesis,_ Leon thought tiredly as the large bird continued its tirade about Sephiroth being rude and needing to apologize for pushing him out of the way like that.

'_Shut up, you squawking, spoiled, over-grown rooster!' _Yazoo growled from next to his brother. It was no secret that Yazoo and the redhead at best only tolerated each other's presence, and at worst were reduced to squabbling teenaged brats with hair-pulling tendencies. Generally both men were composed, but when together, they just seemed to fall apart at the seams. Both men were vain creatures, each liking to be complimented and ego-stroked by their significant others…

And Sephiroth… which is where their dislike of each other stemmed from.

Yazoo, from the start, was dependent almost entirely on Sephiroth. Kadaj and the second youngest, Loz, were independent, strong-willed, hard-headed men, and refused to be babied by their older brother, but Yazoo practically thrived on the attention Sephiroth gave him.

Then Genesis came into the picture. Sure, he and Angeal became Sephiroth's lovers at the same time, but Genesis was very much like the younger silveret in that he enjoyed someone noticing his looks and accomplishments and Angeal was also not one to enjoy such coddling. Unfortunately, the auburnet's neediness was derived from his lack of a loving parental unit and childhood. Yazoo only saw a threat to Sephiroth's undivided attention.

And so started the rivalry. At first it was just narrow-eyed glares from over Sephiroth's shoulders, which then turned into subtle jabs and barbs, and then escalated to outright bickering and quarrelling.

Sephiroth, of course, didn't like it, but he could do nothing without offending one or the other, so he let it be, only breaking up the worst of the fights. He knew he should put a stop to their pointless conflict, he loved them in entirely different ways, and it was unfair for one to claim he loved them more.

'_What did you say to me, furball?'_ Genesis hissed, bright-red feathers truly starting to emit heat.

'_You heard me!' _Yazoo snarled, stalking forward until he was nose-to-beak with the older shifter.

Genesis snapped his razor-sharp beak when Yazoo got to close, and a shock of short feathers actually caught fire, forming a ring of glowing red flames around his neck. _'Why don't you go lick yourself and cough up a hairball, kitty-cat? I don't have time for you today.'_ The phoenix dismissed, turning away haughtily.

Yazoo arched back and roared his displeasure. He looked ready to lunge, but Leon was faster, appearing suddenly between the fighting animals, ears pinned back and snarling, mane bristling and standing on end, teeth flashing.

Just as fast, Vincent was there, an imposing figure towering over Yazoo; and though he and Leon had only inches in their height difference, he shadowed the lion spectacularly. He wasn't being threatening, either, merely separating the combatants easily.

'_Perhaps,'_ he started, _'it is best that you stop this needless jealousy, Yazoo.'_ Crimson eyes flashed to Sephiroth momentarily before training unerringly on his lover. _'It does not become you to be covetous to you brother's affections. He loves you, and you should never doubt that, but Genesis is his lover, and he loves him as well, differently, as a lover should love.'_ Vincent's eyes bored into Yazoo's distressed pale-green, _'Do I not give you enough attention? Or are you merely so greedy as to want to steal Sephiroth's from what is his? You do not care when Sephiroth is sweet with the others, but as soon as Genesis appears you have a problem? I did not fall in love with this pettiness, Yazoo, so stop being troublesome to your brother and Genesis.'_

Yazoo looked at a loss for what to do, so he looked to Sephiroth as if to justify that he was right and Vincent was not, but Sephiroth stood tall at Yazoo's pleading glance. The older silveret gave his brother a pointed look, and that was all Yazoo needed to tell that he was not winning this battle, so he slunk away dejectedly to lick his wounded pride. Vincent stayed for a moment longer to ensure there would be no more problems, before going after his lover, and settling next to him comfortingly.

During all this, Zack and Cloud had not been disturbed from their roughhousing, but Angeal surely noticed the tension that was forming only moments ago, choosing to stay out of it and keep his eyes on the younger teens.

It was looking to be a long day.

_[Meanwhile…]_

Torra paced silently into the semi-dark observation room and stopped by the door with her arms clasped loosely behind her back in the parade rest position. But for all her silence, her presence was noticed as soon as she entered the opening.

"Come." The sole resident of the room called quietly, knowing he would be heard crystal clear. The man was standing with a similar stance in front of the one way windows that took up the entire west wall, shadowed from behind due to the light from the training room he was currently watching the occupants of.

The red-headed woman abandoned her post by the exit to stand should-to-shoulder with the taller man. She spared no glance in his direction, instead focusing on Reno and Saix's other thirteen students, who were too busy otherwise to notice an absentee. Red eyes zeroed on the yipping blond wolf tumbling around with a larger black wolf as they played near an entirely disinterested brown lion with a long scar jaggedly making its way across his handsome face, and another wolf, this one huge and barrel-chested, with long noir fur and amused/worried grey eyes.

An irritated-looking phoenix faced off with a compact silver-black panther close by, crying out loudly with its melodic voice, to which the panther only growled replies. The beautiful bird was clearly ticked-the-fuck-off, its fiery plumage puffed out and burning bright and hot. The panther was in an alike state, its shoulder and tail fur standing on end while its ears laid back and its teeth flashed in the synthetic light. Close-on-hand stood a nearly identical panther with brighter green eyes and a huge tiger—much bigger than Torra herself—that was more thick black stripe than blood-red fur.

Her own pride watched from the opposite wall, trying not to bring attention to their missing alpha.

"I was surprised when Reeve told me he'd found them." The man stated, shattering the contemplative silence.

"So the rumors are true."

"Unfortunately…" Red eyes flashed to her companion for a meager second catching the pained grimace, before returning to the window. "I wish they weren't though."

"Because you don't want to give _Him_ leverage over you or because they are your sons and you don't want them to be used as leverage?" Another glance met Persian blue, identical in almost every way to four other sets.

"Both. I would not wish that fate on anyone, especially not my sons. They've been lucky so far, to not have been noticed or suspected. I fear we will not be able to keep _His_ eyes trained from them for very long. Once _he_ has _his_ eyes set, it will only be a matter of time before _he_ slips passed my wards and snatches one for _his_ own use. _He_ is powerful and tricky, I have rarely ever been able to thwart his plans completely, for all my power. If _he_ grabs hold of him, the others won't stand a chance. They might be able to fight each other, but he's the most powerful, blind as he may be; stronger than me, even." The man sighed, shoulders slumping as if from a great weight: the weight of knowledge. He met Torra's eyes unflinchingly, "Watch over them, as my last request to you. Once this is all over, consider my debt paid in full."

Torra nodded, "Understood." The woman made her way back out of the room, changing as she went into a large regal tiger, head held proudly, as any alpha should hold themselves. No weakness.

Only her superior senses caught the last muttered sentence as she passed through the door.

"The fate of Gaia rests heavily in their unknowing hands…"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, this chapter was supposed to be up before Christmas, but I ended up being swept up in family festivities! This entry is much shorter than I've been putting up recently, but it's like that for a reason: Actual Plot!<strong>

**_*Audience gasps*_  
><strong>

**I know right! 'S exciting! There should only be one more chapter for this first day. It should be fairly long, too, because I'm going to wrap all that up and skip ahead a couple of weeks/months; depends on how far I want them to progress...**

**Speaking of Christmas, how were your holidays? Were they fun? Get a lot of presents? Family do anything crazy? Mine certainly did! I also got a new sewing machine for my cosplays, which I_definitely_ wasn't expecting! I'm looking forward to using it though! It's all shiny and shit!**

**Enough about me though, I wanna here about you guys! Message me, or leave a review! I'm looking forward to learning more about the awesome people that seem to think my story is any good!**

**Ja ne  
>~Tora<strong>


	14. Chapter 12

**Oh shit guys! Lookit! Two chapter in one day!**

**Lol, I know I said there would only be one more chapter for this stupidly long first day, but I really wanted to put up this companion piece to the last chapter. This starts where Chapter 11 leaves off, basically. Trust me, I think you'll like it *winks***

**Have a taste of what Cloud can really do!**

**Disclaimer:** _I swear, this is the last one I'm doing, goddess dammit!_

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

'_Oi, oi! Hey, knock it off guys!'_ Reno called from his perch on his desk where he was watching Cloud and Zack tumble. The man had changed, and a handsome, bright-red fox had taken his place. Sitting next to the desk was a severe-faced blue wolf that was obviously Saix. In this form, he was nearly as big as Angeal, and twice as mean-looking. _'C'mon! We leave for five minutes and it descends to chaos! Jeez, y'all had one job! One! And that was to partner up and wait for us!'_ The fox snorted and leapt from the desktop, _'Keh, figures… C'mere blondie! I wanna see how good you are, so you and Zack are up first. Thanks to you hooligans, we'll only have time for one match and right now, appraising Cloud is the most important thing.'_ The small canine came up in front of Cloud and sat down, eying him seriously, _'For this spar, it's no holds barred. I want you two to go all out with everything you've got, understand?'_

'_Yessir,'_ Cloud nodded, and beside him Zack's tongue lolled out of his mouth happily.

Angeal was worried though and stated as much, _'Erm, shouldn't you put Cloud against someone who has better control? Not that you aren't good, Zack,'_ Angeal inserted at the younger wolf's yelp, _'but Cloud is new. Aren't you afraid he might be injured?'_

'_That's the point of putting 'em together, Hewley. Fair won't hold back, which anyone of you would do. I need someone who'll test this kid like he ain't ever been tested before! The point is to find his strengths and weaknesses, not make it easy for him. How else is he gonna learn?' _Reno reasoned, and Angeal had to concede the man had a point.

'_Don't worry, Reno. I won't make it easy for him, either.'_ Cloud cut in, rolling his head to give a wolfish grin to Zack, who looked a bit stunned. In fact, all of them seemed stunned at the appearance of this self-confident, cocky side of Cloud.

'_Yeah, well you say that now, but Zack's one of the best fighters we got this year, probably one of the best ever. I don't know how much of a fight you'll give him… Back to what I was sayin' though: magic, wings, and other abilities are permitted, but don't take it so far overboard that you kill each other, 'kay?'_ At the nod he received from the two combatants, Reno stepped back. The others around the room mirrored him, moving off to the sidelines and making ample floor-scape for Zack and Cloud to use.

The blond wolf seemed to have transformed into a totally different personality. Where once stood a shy, timid, entirely heartfelt being, now stood a proud, outgoing, slightly intimidating creature, who was so beautiful to look at, his blinding glow hurt Zack's eyes. Zack felt, no matter what Reno seemed to think, that he wouldn't be winning this match, one of the best or not. The feeling was only multiplied when Cloud sashayed by, tail swaying slowly with his sauntering steps, catching Zack's wandering eyes with the enticing movement.

_He's doing that on purpose!_ Zack realized, eyes widening. _That little minx is distracting me! Gods, this kid is smart… he knows what he's doing to me._ Then it hit him! Cloud was reading his aura! He'd totally forgotten about that… The blond must be able to see the flashes of desire and distraction. Zack knew the only way to keep Cloud from doing it again was to completely shut out his thoughts and feelings, and focus solely on the task at hand. So, he did just that.

Cloud wasn't at all deterred when Zack's aura stopped fluctuating and settled on a flat orange color, blank, but focused. The man obviously knew what he was doing, but he'd never fought someone like Cloud before; someone who had more tricks up his sleeves than magicians could dream of. Cloud thought he'd've made a good fox as well.

Instead of dwelling on his somewhat failed attempt at distraction, Cloud settled into a comfortable defensive position at one side of the room. If Cloud knew anything about personalities like Zack's, he knew the man was going to make the first move, and Cloud was going to let him. Find out what he could do and go from there. It wasn't good to lay out all your tricks on the table in one go, otherwise he ran the risk of becoming predictable, and that just wouldn't do.

From what he'd gleaned from just Zack's aura, he could tell that while he could use magic, it was limited; less than Cloud's abilities. He also knew that although Zack and the others knew about his _sight_ capabilities, they hadn't quite figured out its weakness yet, but he figured Zack was much smarter than he acted, especially in a combat situation, and he'd connect the dots sooner or later. When he did is when Cloud knew the real challenge would begin.

Zack, on the other side of the spacious room, had also taken his position, and as soon as Reno gave a high-pitched bark as the sign to start, the dark-furred wolf was off, racing towards Cloud with no effort.

Cloud was prepared though. He felt the thudding paw-steps through the floor, heard the rustle of soft fur, and _saw_ as Zack bunched his hindquarters and took a flying leap at Cloud, maw gaping and aiming for the blond's ruff. Unfortunately, Zack didn't anticipate Cloud's reaction speed, so as soon as all four paws left the floor, Cloud was there, darting underneath the bigger canine and snapping quickly, but harshly against the soft underbelly with wicked teeth and a ragged snarl. Zack only had time for a short surprised yelp before he came crashing to the floor, limbs flailing comically.

Cloud took his chance and, flipping around easily, shot off a short blast of wind magic to keep Zack pinned to the ground.

Zack definitely wasn't anticipating that, either, but managed to use it to his advantage by snapping out his black-flecked white wings and, using the slight updraft, pulling himself to his feet in time to meet Cloud head-on with teeth bared ferociously.

The wolves were a sight to behold, fighting as they were. None of the others had ever seen Zack fight so roughly before, biting and clawing whatever he could get ahold of, but Cloud was giving just as good as he got, barking and snarling, ripping and tearing, heaving and using Zack's larger weight against him by keeping low to the ground and aiming at his legs and tail. What was supposed to be a tame spar was escalating quickly into a battle of stronger wills and superior strengths. The spectacle was awe-inspiring; bring forth visions of the wild creatures that used to fight in such a way to ensure survival; and at the same time stomach churning. It honestly surprised them that Zack and Cloud had it in them to brawl so savagely, especially with each other. They really weren't holding anything back they all realized as a splash of blood, Cloud's or Zack's they weren't sure, hit the ground with a sickening splatter.

Zack finally managed to muscle Cloud down enough to get a good grip on the fur at the back of his neck, and with a brutal upheave of his head, bodily _threw_ Cloud clear across the room and into the wall with a nasty thud.

That wasn't anything to Cloud though, and he was up just before the dark wolf could sink his teeth into his haunch. The blond dodged at the last second, causing Zack to ram into the wall heavily. As soon as his head hit the wall, Zack had an in-fight epiphany! Cloud's _sight_ worked like a sonar, right? So it stood to reason that if the blond wasn't touching anything it wouldn't work. And the same could be said about the opposite. That was all it took for Zack to pull out his wings once more and take flight and disappear.

Cloud whipped around, listening with all his might to the sounds of Zack's wing beats. It seemed that Zack figured out the weakness in his _sight_ after all. But now that he was higher up in the room, and his noises were louder, the sounds of his movements were echoing better in the cavernous space. Cloud couldn't pinpoint his location and was only dodging Zack's attacks by the slight brush of wind against his fur from the man's wings.

Cloud really didn't want to pull out his wings, but he was obviously going to have to if he wanted to win this, as well as one of his more complicated tricks he only used against those who managed to get smart in the middle of a skirmish. So, it was with great loathing that Cloud unleashed his magic, and took to the sky.

Ice sprung up from the floor in copious amounts. Great slabs rose up, tall and straight, reflecting light, while thin, easily breakable spires in all widths leapt from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, in no apparent order, forming a spectacular web of sparkling ice.

The occupants of the room soon found themselves surrounded in a glittering array of ice and crystal, staring around in awe at the display of power, and beauty. Even Zack found himself caught up in the presentation, head whipping round and round, wings snapping thin strings of ice with no problem.

The dark-furred wolf caught a flash of blond and black out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a mirror-reflection of himself looking back. He saw another flash, but when he looked, it was just another mirror. Soon, he was seeing innumerable Cloud-shaped silhouettes, but every time he turned, there was just another him. It was starting to freak him out, and his flight pattern was getting erratic to the point that his wings were starting to snap more spires, causing the slight, chilling tinkle of so much breaking glass.

Suddenly, there was a bark, echoing from everywhere, ringing in his sensitive ears, and it startled Zack so much that he crashed sideways into a thick spike of frozen water.

That was all it took.

Cloud came bursting out from between two huge mirrors, black wings making near to no sound, with a guttural half bark, half snarl, looking more vicious than Zack thought possible: lips pulled back over glinting white teeth, and blue eyes wide and wild, locked-on to Zack aura. The blond crashed into Zack with all the force of an enraged wild-thing, and both hurtled irreversibly to the floor. Zack was so consumed with keeping Cloud at bay, that he didn't realized as soon as Cloud touched him, the ice just vanished and the others watched as the two hit the ground with a brutal noise of grinding bones and gnashing teeth and scrabbling claws. But as soon as the proverbial dust settled, it was clear who the victor was, in both demonstration and outright skill.

Cloud crouched over a prone Zack with a strong grip on the bigger wolf's obsidian-furred neck, leathery wings up and out to keep balanced. Zack froze up momentarily, all muscles locked as if to struggle, but at feeling Cloud's warning growl vibrating against his throat through the blond's teeth, he relaxed, falling limp under Cloud with a whimper of pain.

Cloud held on just a second longer before releasing Zack and sniffing his neck for blood. He found only a little and licked the wound soothingly before looking for more. He found only one large gash on his chest and a small x-shaped cut at the corner of his jaw where Cloud presumably caught him with a claw or tooth in the beginning. Cloud took care cleaning both carefully, listening to Zack's relieved sighs and grunts of discomfort.

When he was finished, he helped Zack stagger into a semi-upright position and stumble over to his lovers, who were watching them with wide eyes and unhinged jaws, but as soon as Zack slumped down exhaustedly at Leon's feet, they were all over them, making sure they were okay.

Cloud turned out to have one major injury: a gouge down his left flank and across that hip. It didn't start very bad, but it got deeper as it got closer to his haunch and it was bleeding profusely down his leg, quickly forming a puddle where he was standing unsteadily. He looked back to where they'd originally landed and saw a similar pool of red as well as several bloody paw prints, both his and some the size of Zack's paws.

Cloud gave a weak whuffle, and started attempting to lower himself to the floor, but he found he couldn't bend his left hind leg without a searing pain flaring up his spine like so much fire. The rest of his legs nearly gave out completely, but a large, warm body pressed up carefully to his right side and Cloud looked over to meet Leon's stormy grey eyes tiredly. The shaggy lion helped him to his side and very cautiously began the excruciating process of cleaning the cut with soft strokes of his sandpaper tongue. Cloud flinched with an agonized whine that broke the big cat's heart, but the wound needed to be cleaned before he changed back or he ran the risk of an infection in his human body. The wolf forced his body to relax by reasoning that it was _Leon_ who was licking him so tenderly. Of course, who knew if he meant anything by it, but Cloud was quickly finding himself growing attached to the five men and he could hope.

Leon noticed Cloud had eased and quickly finished, making sure the job was thoroughly done, before coming around behind the wolf and laying down, practically encompassing the smaller body with his own, and beginning to groom the canine's ears, laying the fur back down easily with broad strokes of his long tongue. Cloud only made his task easier by facing him with as close to a pout as he could muster in this form on his face.

Zack was being fussed over by the other four and he didn't need Leon making it worse.

Reno and Saix came over with mostly impressed, partly awed expressions on their faces.

'_Well, I was definitely wrong about you, kid. I expected you to be more of a pushover than that. The Academy is definitely lucky to have you on their side! You and Zack can stay here and rest. I know you and Gen only have one more class at the very end of the day, and it's with Rufus and Tseng and if I explain what happened, they'll understand and allow a little tardiness, if not an excuse to just skip today.'_ Reno gave a genuine smile to the blond, _'You did good, blondie. Take it easy for a little bit and you should be good as new before you know it.'_ Saix gave a nod of approval before both moved off.

Genesis flapped over, hopping closer to Cloud and Leon with an excited twinkle in his eyes, _'I didn't know you could wield magic so spectacularly, Cloud! That was a gorgeous display of how tricky magic can be! How did you learn how to do that?'_

Cloud shrugged, _'I mostly taught myself. My mentor couldn't use magic to any helpful degree, so he only taught me combat. I discovered my magic accidentally one day after I lost my vision, and I just explored from there. A lot of my tricks I made up and perfected all by myself. That particular one was something I made up when I remembered a time my mom took me to a carnival, before I became blind. We went into the house of mirrors, and I remember losing my mom in there and every time I turned around to find her, it was just another reflection of me.'_ Cloud ducked his head,_ 'It scared me so bad that I sometimes still have nightmares about it.'_ He admitted sheepishly. Leon emitted a soothing purr from deep within his chest that caused Cloud to snuggle further into Leon's fur unconsciously. Genesis was too busy getting over his surprise to notice.

Torra watched, always vigilant, from her place among her small family. Her mate, Rene, was snuggled up against her side, and if Torra were to look down, all she would see would be the top of her dirty-blonde head.

The red-headed woman watched as the lion finished cleaning the wolf's laceration and curled up around him and start grooming his head and face tenderly, much like a suitor would do to a potential mate. That could be a problem…

'_He's as powerful as they thought.'_ Ignatius stated as he came up on the other side of Torra and joined in on watching the other group as Reno and Saix came over to congratulate the teen in his win. _'It will be difficult for us to watch him, _and_ his brothers.'_ The sleek, dark lion glanced to his larger alpha and her smaller companion, who was listening intently, though she didn't show it. Torra looked back at her brother with red eyes, conveying her confidence in her family's ability to perform under pressure. Ignatius snorted, shaking out his thick, dark-chocolate mane. Unlike the shaggy fur of Leon, only Ignatius's mane was fluffy, the rest of him thin-furred and much darker.

The small form of Ignatius's mate joined them, nipping playfully at Ignatius's forelegs to get him to make room. The lion grumbled, but shifted so Zephyr's small form fit between his legs easily, long, thick tail curling gratefully around both sets of paws. Once the snow leopard was comfortable, he glanced up at the taller animals surrounding him, _'Perhaps it is best that two of us watch Cloud at a time? Maybe we should create schedule?'_ Lavender eyes looked hopeful that his idea was good. As the youngest and newest of the group, Zephyr was continually seeking approval from all of them, especially their alpha pair and his mate.

Torra nodded, _'Just what I was thinking, thank you Zephyr.'_

The small feline beamed at the thanks and cuddled deeper into Ignatius.

Felix and Sven stepped forward side-by-side to complete the circle. A bit of electricity cracked off the cheetah's yellow fur and Sven shuddered briefly, skin twitching as if to shake off a particularly persistent pest. The pitch-black panther beside him paid no heed as an arc of the power flicked him in the flank like a love tap, not even singeing his fur. The only evidence that showed he even noticed was the slight glow of pleasure that graced his narrow silver-blue eyes.

'_We're gonna hafta make nice wit' 'im, fer tha' ta happen. An' tha' li'l posse o' his ain't exactly "open-armed" ta us, as ya saw earlier.'_ Sven said unconcernedly, recovered from his short display of power. _'We set off some major alarms in their heads, from wha' Ah can tell. They're suspicious as hell o' us. We gotta make it seem like we ain't trying ta steal their new toy away.'_

Torra narrowed her eyes at the blond wolf. The boy who held the power to save them all…

'_Watch him.' _She said, leaning down to lick her mate between the ears, inciting a surprised mew from the cougar, and a curious glance from warm forest-green eyes.

'_Understood…'_ Felix replied shortly, deep voice soft. He knocked his shoulder into Sven when the speed-demon rolled lemon-lime eyes. The two of them rose and sauntered off towards Cloud. The last thing Torra heard before Sven and Felix got too far away to listen to clearly, was Sven's high-pitch, crackling voice calling across the room.

'_Oi! Storm Cloud, tha' was some serious power there, kiddie! Very impressive! Say, you doin' okay—'_

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><p><strong>It cuts off like that on purpose! I didn't want to put a whole other conversation in there, especially since it would be pointless and repetitive.<strong>

**Well, are you surprised I managed two chapters in one day? Huh, are ya? Cuz I sure as hell am!**

**'Til next time!**

**Ja ne  
>~Tora<strong>


	15. Chapter 13

**Definitely a faster update than last time, ne? Sorry for the long wait, but I'm now working on, like, twenty other things besides this, and this story, unfortunately, got put on the back burner to simmer.**

**Also, my OCs had a bit of a revamp recently. Their names changed and everything. They're still the same people, but since I made them up when I was 11 or so, I figured their names were a bit childish, so, yeah, changed! Their new nombres are as follows:**

**Torra- Tora  
>Rene- Eli<br>Zephyr- the only one I didn't change actually...  
>Ignatius- Toxra<br>Felix- Furi  
>Sven- Ryo<strong>

**That's it for my notes! I don't own anything still, and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of Sight!**

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

Cloud eventually fell asleep, tucked in as he was next to Leon. The over-exertion of his powers after so long going without took its toll and the poor blond didn't even try to fight as unconsciousness took him into a dreamless slumber.

This all happened shortly after Sven and Felix sauntered over, asked him their questions and given their concerns, before promptly getting into a conversation with Genesis, who lingered nearby to make sure Cloud and Zack were really both okay.

When the bell rang to signal the end of this block, Cloud didn't stir and continued his rest. Leon had no inclination to move, and remained peaceably where he was. He only had one other class today, but it wasn't for another several hours. He saw Vincent and Yazoo, as well as the other large group lead by the mysterious Torra; leave the large room for their own classes. Sephiroth and Angeal managed to help Zack stumble over to the lion and the wolf currently curled into his side before he collapsed and passed out himself.

Angeal changed into his normal form and nudged Zack closer to Leon with a fond smile. The big man gave the newly changed Sephiroth a glance as the silver-haired male stood gracefully, lean muscles rippling, hair softly dancing, and followed suit.

"As much as we'd like to stay, Sephiroth booked us training room time for today," as he said this, Angeal sent Genesis a pointed look, "Genesis, it's best we get going."

Genesis made to argue, but seemed to think better of it and shifted back, his skin-tight outfit hugging his well-built body. Leon was momentarily glad that they were in a public place and that he was otherwise occupied, or they might've had to peel the younger brunet off his lovers with a crowbar.

The lion huffed at the wayward thought and pulled Cloud closer with his front paws. The blond whined quietly, but quieted when Leon licked between his ears. The wolf turned his head and snuffled into Leon's shaggy chest with a sigh.

On the other side of the big cat, Zack awoke momentarily at Cloud's small sound. The bigger wolf managed to heave himself over Leon's larger body, much to the feline's hissing displeasure, and curl up next to Cloud, his head laying happily on Leon's furry flank.

The other three chuckled at the sight with fond eyes, but had to leave to get dressed.

The lion watched them enter the changing room, come out a few minutes later, and leave to make their training appointment.

Leon observed the door for a few moments longer as a couple students meandered their way in. Thankfully, the three of them were in the far corner and out of everyone's way. Reno's new class of younger students noticed the massive lion and his companions in the shadowed corner rather quickly, and could only gape at the senior Shifters.

Leon would've laughed if he could, (after all, they were just children and probably couldn't hold their form for longer than a few minutes at most) but settled for laying his head over Cloud's neck with a contented purr and fell asleep.

He definitely didn't notice as Zephyr and Ignatius, the little snow leopard and his lion mate, slunk back into the room to stand guard by the door, inciting the students to shuffle warily between the large predators.  
>-<p>

As soon as Genesis entered the secluded training room and saw the looks on his lovers' faces, he immediately turned to leave, but Angeal lunged for the door and stood in front of it with his patented 'you're-going-to-explain-your-conniving-out-of-con trol-thought-process-to-us-lowly-mortals-or-I'm-no t-going-to-be-happy' frown.

Genesis held up hands in surrender when Sephiroth came up behind him as he tried to back away.

"What, exactly, are you expecting to happen between Cloud and the rest of us, Gen?" Angeal questioned sternly.

The redhead sighed and lowered his hands when he saw nothing but confusion and a wish to understand shining in Angeal slate eyes.

"Honestly, Ang, I really don't know. But, I just— I feel something…" Genesis' right hand came up over his heart as he considered to floor thoughtfully. "—in here, and it's…" Genesis tapped the space on his chest and brought his other arm in to make an odd looping motion with his hand in a frustrated gesture as he tried to think of the proper words to describe these sensations he'd been having since he met the lithe blond, "I don't know. It's like I had a piece missing that I didn't know about, but as soon as I saw Cloud, it just clicked into place, like it'd never been gone." The auburnet regarded his oldest friend earnestly, "It's the same feeling I got when I met all of you. One by one, all of my previously unknown missing pieces were coming back to me, and Cloud's was the bit that completed the puzzle and showed the picture in its entirety! I feel _whole_! For the first time in my life, I feel like there's nothing in me that's absent, and I can finally stop _searching_ for whatever's left, because there's nothing gone anymore." A blissful expression overcame Genesis' angular face, and Angeal and Sephiroth shared a look over their lover's shoulder. After a moment, Sephiroth nods and Angeal feels a vague sense of relief.

They don't know for sure, but maybe Cloud is the piece they were all secretly missing…  
>-<p>

It wasn't until much later that Cloud woke up, slightly sore, but healed for the most part. It was clearly the middle of one of Reno's younger classes, as most of the students were transformed and tumbling around with each other while the fox observed.

The wolf looked one way and found Zack's furry back legs curled up by his shoulder, and looked the other way to find Leon lounging on his side with a wide, heavy paw thrown over Cloud's shoulders. Zack's head rose and fell with Leon's breathing from where he laid it on the lion's shaggy flank. Leaning forward, Cloud noticed a deep rumbling coming from the depths of Leon's chest: purring.

Snickering as well as he could in this form, Cloud belly-crawled up to nose at Leon's jaw carefully. When that did nothing, he nipped the underside of his chin and earned a slight twitch, which caused Zack to snort, but they both remained sleeping.

Particularly mischievous at the moment, Cloud decided to have a little fun with his napping companions. He lifted his fluffy tail and ran it lightly over Zack's face, irritating the other wolf's ears. As the black appendages flicked madly, Cloud gently extracted himself from between Leon's front paws. Zack was waking up, sniffling at the feeling of fur on his nose, so Cloud had to do this quickly.

Barking sharply in the big cat's ear, the blond leapt back as Leon jerked up, dislodging Zack who flailed wildly and flipped over onto his other side with an "Oompf!" Leon, looking around with wide eyes, fur standing on end, looked especially comical and Cloud couldn't help the yipping laughter that escaped him.

Gunmetal eyes locked, narrowed, upon the small blond wolf, and his fur seemed to fluff up more with indignation, making the lion's face seem puffed out. Cloud caught one glimpse and another round of near cackling started up. Zack was slowly gathering himself and trying unsuccessfully to calm his racing heart.

Leon took a menacing step at Cloud, but the blond was already gone, racing off down the length of the room, yipping. Leon streaked after him with a terrifying roar. Meanwhile, all the students of Reno's class huddled together near the middle of the large room, having been surprised by the loud sound from the small wolf. They watched in fascinated horror as the lion gave chase, and the limber wolf merely evaded, using walls as springboards to change directions rapidly, something his much larger companion couldn't do easily. Back in the corner the black wolf only blearily sat where he was, slightly tilted and sitting on his hip.

Eventually, the lion tired and tripped ungracefully, landing on his chest, hindquarters high in the air, before careening headfirst into the wall that the blond had just used as a launch pad for a particularly showy flip and roll combo. The shaggy creature fell sideways with a thump and a groan, ending the wolf's fun immediately.

Cloud missed the accident, but heard the series of noises and turned whining distressed at Leon's state and rushing over. Zack heaved himself up and hobbled closer, worry for his lover overcoming his pain. Cloud came to a grinding halt in front of Leon, whining apologies profusely and licking the lion's nose soothingly. Leon looked dazed, but relatively unharmed and Cloud was silently thankful that his roughhousing hadn't had too many negative consequences. Sometimes he forgot that most people couldn't handle his type of 'play'.

Leon shook off the dizziness and sat up against the wall he'd inadvertently become acquainted with. Cloud was still fussing over him though, which was not okay, so the great lion pounced and trapped the slim wolf between his front paws, and began to lick his ears to calm him down. Cloud's leathery wings, which had escaped during his and the lion's romp, wriggled helplessly against the floor, pushed flat by Leon's weight and the lion moved down and licked the junctures of the dark appendages where they met the wolf's shoulders, and Cloud practically melted beneath the furrier body above him, making a rumbling noise suspiciously close to a purr.

When Leon heard the noise, he came back to himself somewhat and clambered off the wolf, glancing sheepishly at a bemused Zack. Cloud's disappointed whimper was cut short when he realized a whole class of younger teens and a smirking fox were watch the scene with several mixed emotions. Cloud shot up and practically flew to the exit in his embarrassment. 'Stupid… Stupid!' he berated himself once he was safely in the hall and changed back into his human skin. Leon and Zack joined him a few minutes later; Leon wouldn't looked at him and Cloud couldn't find it in himself to fault him if he regretted… whatever it was he was doing back in there…

"I'm sorry…" the blond said, hiding his eyes behind a fringe of soft spikes.

Leon looked up, brows furrowed, "_You're_ sorry? Why are you sorry? I was the one who was being inappropriate!"

"I would understand if you're disgusted by me, though… I get that I'm weird and my wing are unnatural, or whatever… I don't blame you if you regret whatever it was you were doing."

"_What?_"

Leon grabbed Cloud's chin and yanked his face around to look into his eyes, disregarding the fact that the other teen was blind. Most of the time, Cloud seemed like he could see anyway.

"I would _never_ regret anything I did with, or _to,_ you! Not unless whatever I do hurts you." Leon searched sightless eyes and hesitantly asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"No!" Blue eyes widened. "I mean, it didn't hurt…" the blond's blush was prominent on his pale skin, "I, um… actually kind of… liked it…" he muttered.

Leon didn't know what came over him in that instant, whether it was the fact that Cloud just looked too damn cute, or if his instincts felt it was the right thing to do, that _Cloud_ was right, but the brunet—using his grip on Cloud's soft chin—pulled the blond into a soft kiss, and _damn_, did it feel _right_. So right, in fact, that he forgot Zack, who could only watch on with wide eyes. Gods, was it just him, or was it suddenly hot in here?

The sable-haired man had to fight the urge to get in on that action, and contented himself with thoughts of the others whilst staring at the opposite wall. For some reason, thinking of what the others might think if they saw this didn't worry him. He had a feeling that they felt the same pull to Cloud that he and Leon obviously felt.

After several moments of soft noises from the two, they broke apart. Zack, for one, was glad he didn't have to ruin their moment, but if they'd gone on any longer he might've had a problem down south to worry about…

Leon leaned his forehead against Cloud's and just stared into heavy-lidded eyes, to his flushed face, and knew that Cloud could see Leon in his own special way; could see what he did to the other teen. Goddess, had it really only been two days since he'd met this wonderfully beautiful boy? It felt like they'd know each other forever.

'_Forever… Oh shit, Zack!'_

Leon whipped around to face his boyfriend and found the man staring off at the wall with a blush on his face. From where he was standing, Leon couldn't see any judgment in those stunning violet eyes, so the brunet counted that as a win in their favor.

"You two done over there…?" Zack called over his shoulder. Cloud's eyes widened and he paled as he too remembered the other part of their little trio.

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" Leon cleared his throat awkwardly, looking anywhere but at his lover.

"Good!" Zack spun around and strode over, sweeping the much smaller Cloud into a kiss of his own. Leon's jaw hit the floor and gunmetal eyes fixated unerringly on his boyfriend making out with the boy. He squirmed uncomfortably when Zack pulled back with a wicked grin to see Cloud's dazed appearance. The older man looked over at Leon's questioning face and gave an innocent expression, "What? Did you think I'd let you have all the fun?"

Leon glared at losing the kissing contest he didn't know they were even having and being outdone. "Shut up… we've have classes to get to…" he grumbled as he passed the two, and Zack laughed, setting Cloud back down and grabbing his hand to pull him after the pouting brunet.

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><p><strong>Look at that! Cloud got some action in that one, huh? And you all thought Genesis would be the first to get some of that ass...<br>**

**The moment seemed perfect, so I was like, 'Why the hell not?' And, anyway, in this story, everything involving Cloud is a bit of a race against time, as it were... they just don't know it yet.**

**Hope you liked! Drop a line and say hi!**

**Ja ne  
>~Tora<strong>


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